‘MOTM’, ‘Our best player’ – Many West Brom fans wowed by one man despite 2-1 loss v Sheff Utd
West Brom fans have struggled to pick out any positives from their 2-1 defeat to Sheffield United on Tuesday night but Kyle Bartley’s performance seems to have pleased a number of supporters on Twitter.
Matt Phillips scored just before half-time for the Albion but Sam Allardyce’s men failed to hold onto their lead and slipped to a humiliating defeat at Bramall Lane to leave their hopes of survival in absolute tatters.
With 16 matches to play, West Brom are now nine points behind 17th-placed Brighton, who have a game in hand and a vastly superior goal difference.
But there was a glimpse of positivity in South Yorkshire as centre-back Bartley, 29, impressed amid a series of decent performances in recent weeks.
According to stats by Wyscout, the former Swansea defender 88 per cent of defensive duels and 50 per cent of aerial duels against the Blades.
He also made 13 interceptions, 14 recoveries – his best total this season – and made eight clearances.
West Brom’s defensive efforts were still nowhere near good enough to keep out a Sheffield United team that had scored just 12 Premier League goals before Tuesday night.
But Bartley was arguably the stand-out player for the Baggies and deserves the praise he’s received on social media.
Here is a selection of their tweets:
In other West Brom news, Albion are in talks to get rid of this attacker in an out-of-window deal.
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