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  • 08/03/2025
Jonny Drury and Lewis Cox analyse West Brom's win over QPR.
The Baggies were in need of a victory as the play-off race hots up - and they went in front thanks to Adam Armstrong's first half penalty.
The game was then thrown up in the air, as Darnell Furlong was sent off for an alleged elbow just before half time.
Albion had to dig in during the second half as QPR put them under pressure, but they passed the tests to hang on for three precious points.
Transcript
00:00Baggies fans, welcome to expressandstart.com, my name is Jonny Drury, I'm here with Albion
00:12correspondent Lewis Cox. Me, Jonny and the mowers. Me, Coxie and the mowers, yeah. And
00:17after Albion have won by one goal to nil against QPR, it doesn't tell the full story. There
00:21were 10 man baggies with an unbelievable effort in the second half, digging in, bit of a ten
00:25at job at times, Coxie. Ten at job. Got over the line. The headline. It could be the headline,
00:30yeah. A one nil victory for Albion thanks to Adam Armstrong. Penalty, but it could have
00:37been, or could be, a very big day in the play-off race. All the results went for Albion, they
00:41dug in, picked up a massive three points here, back-to-back home wins. All positive. Huge,
00:47yeah, yeah, I mean the five clubs below Albion in the championship drop points, either today
00:51or last night. Massive. So, yeah, we were kind of saying it in the second half as the
00:55results were coming in, weren't we, towards the end of the game, and Tony Mowbray in there
00:59in his press conference has just gone with it, hasn't he? He's an absolutely huge win.
01:03Perfectly in effort. Yeah, he said a lot of good stuff, really, that I don't want to give
01:08it all away on this video, we've got things to write, but he almost called Burnley a bit
01:13of a free hit on Tuesday night, didn't he? Quite big words to say, you know, for an Albion
01:17manager, and I don't think he really means free hit, but what he means is, look, today
01:21was huge, next Saturday here against Hull is huge, we need to win these home games,
01:26as Albion have been doing. And look, I think a point would be a very good result up at
01:31Burnley, wouldn't they? Burnley don't concede goals, they don't score many, but they don't
01:34concede many. However, Albion tiles will be up after today, won't they, because we were
01:39encouraged and infused at Ellum Road, sorry, there was a fly there, I'm not just waving
01:43my arms around. Infused at Ellum Road last weekend for a bit of a different reason, today
01:48you said Tinhap, back to the wall, grit, resilience, stomach for the fight, I think,
01:53your rivals are drop points, Albion could have in that second half, you know, the odds
01:57were against him, really, with the Mandan, the Darnell Furlong, controversial red card,
02:02really, on the stroke of halftime, I don't think Tony Mowgli agrees with it, well, he
02:05doesn't. And Albion have got over the line that first half penalty, enough, and a huge
02:11win. Yeah, massive, massive victory. Coxey, coming to the game today, it was kind of,
02:17you know, we always walk past the people who work here, what's the score going to be, and
02:21you know, I'm ultra positive about it. We're always wrong. I had a bit of a bad feeling
02:24about it, just because there's been a bit of lack of consistency, you know, Albion have
02:28had a positive result and a positive performance, and sometimes failed to back it up, and that's
02:33massive today as well, back-to-back home wins, four unbeaten, you know, there is, you know,
02:39four wins in five here, you know, Mowgli's just sitting there, he, journalists look at stats
02:43kind of more than he does on that type of thing, but just to back it up now, just to get a little
02:49bit of momentum going, I've just written now, you know, we've seen a bit of consistency in
02:53Mowgli's selections now, only one change today, compared to, you know, to four in recent weeks
02:57when he's getting used to his players, but just seeing a bit of consistency, you know,
03:01if we can get that snowballing, it may just be hitting at the right time. Yeah, yeah, I think
03:07what's helped with those changes is, look, they've been sadly to sadly games, I mean, they've had
03:10time on the training pitch, and I think we've seen that, by the way, in these games, in these
03:13performances, albeit, like, the red card today to Verlag's changed everything today, hasn't it,
03:18it's changed the game plan, it's changed the second half, it had to become a low block,
03:21and they did it excellently, your Bartley, Higgins, Styles, not to mention Holgate as well,
03:24to be fair, relentless, and for Molumbi's running, for Iserpreis's running, wow, but yeah, I think
03:30you've got, you know, you make a point there, Johnny, the first few Mowgli games, what were
03:34we seeing, six changes to the side, five, four, it couldn't and wouldn't continue that, it was
03:40just Mowgli getting a feel of what he's inherited, certain type of game today, certainly a certain
03:45type of second half, Tuesday will be different, we know that, and yeah, that momentum is the all
03:52important word, isn't it, now this is a three-game week, brings different challenges, tests the squad,
03:56there are more three-game weeks to come, aren't there, we go to Bristol City, a big rival on a
04:00Tuesday night, isn't it, Bristol, obviously the Easter games are to come, the Friday-Monday, so
04:05look, there are still tests ahead and opportunities ahead for this squad, I don't think we've now
04:10decided on a 12-man squad, you know, Swift one week, Fellowes another week, as it has been the
04:17last two, I think there are still big games ahead for you, Swifts, for you, Grady Lagarde, as he
04:21didn't get on today, he seems to have got the kind of base of his best team, yeah, yeah, yeah, he's
04:26got to be feeling those players a little bit, hasn't he, and you will hope that Darnell Furlong
04:29is available to be called on on Tuesday night and not suspended, let's just talk about that,
04:34you know, he's referencing there and possibly appealing it, I've watched it back, I don't think
04:38there's any intent there, but the kind of, the elbow is kind of high, so I'm kind of split over
04:44whether Albion win that appeal or not, it sounds very much like they're going to go for it, yeah,
04:48he said to me they would, yeah, if they don't win it, I think that adds a game on as well,
04:53a little bit of a risk, perhaps it does, yeah, but they, you know, they feel quite confident,
04:57and if they do, if they do win that appeal, that's huge, because he has, you know, at times he's
05:02been caught out of the season, but I think defensively and going forward, I saw the first
05:07half today, you know, he's an important player, he's a key regular, you know, familiarity,
05:12consistency, Tony Moby, he had a lot to say about it, didn't he, but in a nutshell, it happened
05:17right in front of him, he said, look, it was just a 50-50 shoulder, I'm trying off the stand there,
05:23so I could be over the Alpha's lane boundary, and the QPR lad, Saito, has basically ducked a bit to
05:29get out of the way of it, and it's meant that the shoulder really, or the arm has gone into his face
05:35a bit, and it's not an intentional flung elbow, that is the opinion of Tony Moby, who was right
05:40there, and he was quite strong to me, saying we will appeal it, I expect we will appeal it, so
05:44that's interesting, how quick does that go through, does it happen in time for Tuesday night,
05:49one would hopefully, what I would say is, Holgate had a good second half, I thought,
05:52got an early booking, as did Bartley in that second half, and they both got through it,
05:55against some tricky customers, that Saito was a bit of a nightmare, another Korean player on the
06:00opposite flank, on loan from Spurs was tricky, Ilja's chair, you know, they're a real test QPR,
06:05they're just missing a focal point today, they've got Stryker's injured, but hopefully the appeal
06:09comes through, you're right to question the frivolous thing, I don't think each failed
06:15appeal results in an extra game, it's just if you're taking the peak, for want of a better word,
06:19we're from something that's never going to win an appeal, but we're hoping to have Furlong
06:25available, I think there was no qualms for the penalty he won today, that Armstrong converted
06:29in the first half, we saw a trip on Malumby, didn't we, I think, Jack Colbeck, good work from
06:33Tom Fellows for that, he sort of burst away down the right, didn't he, low ball in was spot on,
06:39so shout out for Fellows, because he's had a tough time of it hasn't he, he fell out the side for
06:43the lead, came back in and part of that match winning assist today for the only goal, it was
06:49massive, massive win for Albion in the race for first, there's going to be a lot more twists
06:54and turns, hopefully on Tuesday night, keep it going apparently, very, very, very quickly today,
07:02you know, you've got, we talked about rivals dropping points, I looked at the table after the
07:06game actually, and you've got Middlesbrough, who we've sort of thought was a big threat all season
07:10in night, now five points behind Albion then, five points isn't a lot, don't get me wrong,
07:14nothing's nowhere anywhere near decided, but it just feels like a little bit of
07:18grieving, doesn't it, you know, Albion have got to lose games at a regular rate for rivals to win,
07:24and look, look, yeah, just the consistency, what it is, you know, you wrote it this week, didn't
07:28you, consistency is the word of the season, and Albion haven't really had it, so can they
07:33finally get some at the right time, massive if they can, continue that at Burnley on Tuesday,
07:38will be there, but for now, final score here at the Hall of Famers, Albion 1 QPR 0,
07:42you know where to go, all the rest of your Reaction Express and Star.com

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