Bilic desperately unlucky v Leeds
West Brom went into their game against Leeds top of the league on Tuesday night but ended up being leapfrogged by the hosts.
Losing at Elland Road is nothing to be ashamed of but the 1-0 scoreline doesn’t tell the whole story.
Not many teams go to Elland Road and come away with more of the ball, but West Brom boasted 53% possession on Tuesday night and outpassed Leeds 354 to 328 (277 to 242 accurate). [SofaScore]
According to Sky Sports that was the lowest number of passes since Marcelo Bielsa took charge last summer and the second-least possession home or away.
That’s something we can be proud of.
But for a great save from Kiko Casilla in the Leeds goal, we would have come away with a point last night.
However, Leeds had the big chances – two to West Brom’s none – and better finishing on their part could have seen them win by a bigger margin.
It’s one of those games that really could have gone either way and overall, we’ve got to be pleased. Not with the result but with how the team played and the big difference between this game and the 4-0 hammering we took at Elland Road last season.
Matheus Pereira was a constant menace and left Leeds’ standout player Kalvin Phillips befuddled at times.
Sam Johnstone pulled off an amazing double save from Patrick Bamford and Helder Costa when the home side really should have scored.
Semi Ajayi looked comfortable in the centre of defence. and £1.5m is looking like a real bargain.
The goal was just unfortunate and while it’s still being credited to Ezgjan Alioski, it was clearly a Kyle Bartley own goal.
Overall, it was a game that Baggies fans can take great heart from.