View: 25y/o hits form at right time – Three things learned about West Brom in 2-2 v Charlton
West Brom may have moved to the top of the Championship table on Saturday but they did so in an unconvincing manner with a 2-2 draw against struggling Charlton.
Kenneth Zohore and Hal Robson-Kanu were on the scoresheet in each half for the Baggies but they were pegged back twice by the Addicks as they managed to frustrated Slaven Bilic’s side at The Valley.
An unfortunate own goal by Sam Johnstone led to West Brom having to return to the Black Country with only a point, but the overall display by Albion was nowhere near good enough to deserve the win.
Here, West Brom News has rounded up three things learned about the Baggies in their draw at Charlton:
- Diangana return is top priority
Grady Diangana finally returned from injury when he came off the bench in the 70th minute of the draw at Charlton but the on-loan West Ham winger did not have enough time on the pitch to have a real influence on proceedings. Still, stats by WhoScored show that Diangana completed four dribbles in his time on the pitch – which was more than any other player managed in the entire game. Diangana has the cutting edge that West Brom need to win games and the sooner he is back in the starting line-up, the better.
2. Zohore hits form at just right time
West Brom have not won in their last five Championship fixtures but they are still scoring goals and have found a new man to hit the back of the net for them in Kenneth Zohore. Before last weekend’s 1-0 FA Cup win at Charlton, Zohore had not scored since August for the Baggies and had not scored once in open play. However the 25-year-old Dane has found form at just the right time and there’s a chance the £8million summer signing can help Bilic to dig his side out of this rut they are in.
3. Johnstone critics back out of their shells
Sam Johnstone did not have the best of games for West Brom on Saturday but it is important to remember that the former Manchester United goalAlkeeper has still had a lot more good days than bad. Johnstone has been widely criticised for the way his commands his area but let’s face it, it’s an issue with the whole defence and not just him. Calls for Johnstone to be dropped are ridiculous and he is still one of the stand-out goalkeepers in the division this season. Stats by WhoScored show that only two more goalkeepers have made more Championship saves than Johnstone [85].
In other West Brom news, Albion are eyeing up this Irish centre-forward.