Daniel Feliciano

Sun 14 August 2022 17:02, UK

West Brom suffered their first defeat of the season at Ewood Park after Ben Brereton-Diaz and Sam Gallagher gave them a 2-1 win on Sunday afternoon.

The Baggies started the game well and created the best chances of the half, before the Chile international found a yard of space on the stroke of half-time to curl the ball into the bottom corner and give his side the lead.

Then early in the second half Brereton-Diaz outmuscled Darnell Furlong on the wing to cut the ball back to the edge of the box and allow Gallagher to curl in to the bottom corner too.

Grady Diangana pulled one back in the second half with a deflected effort from the edge of the box, but despite pressure West Brom struggled to create more chances for an equaliser.

It was a disappointing result in a performance that wasn’t bad, but showed where team is currently short. Here are West Brom News‘ player ratings for the game:

David Button – 5/10

The keeper was targeted early on and made a brilliant save, and couldn’t do much about either goal. His distribution was good but he needs to start producing more commanding displays to be the long term number one.

Darnell Furlong – 4/10

Got outmuscled for the second goal early in the second half and his delivery was off throughout the game. Wasn’t the best performance, considering how good Taylor Gardner-Hickman was in this position in midweek.

Semi Ajayi – 5/10

The Nigerian was his usual bully-boy self, but found himself outrun and outmuscled rather easily by Brereton-Diaz for the second goal and will be disappointed by that. Overall an okay display though.

Dara O’Shea – 6/10

The perfect foil for Ajayi, O’Shea stepped forward to play forward passes more often and won three aerial duels during the game – a total only bettered by only Conor Townsend. A good display, despite the result.

Conor Townsend – 6/10

The left back has formed a terrific partnership with Diangana on the left and the duo were dangerous throughout. His passing was accurate and progressive, while he dominated aerially with more duels won than anyone else on the pitch. Has adapted back to a back four seamlessly.

Jake Livermore – 5/10

The skipper did well defensively in the midfield area, but had trouble progressing the ball up the pitch in possession. The usual struggles from him, and eventually got substituted as the team chased goals.

Jayson Molumby – 5/10

Much like his skipper he was solid defensively in the midfield and did well to break up play throughout the game, but struggled to be creative with his passing and ultimately it led to the team not getting the ball into dangerous areas enough.

Jed Wallace – 5/10

Probably his worst performance since arriving at the club in the summer, Blackburn found a way to totally nullify him going forward. His dribbling wasn’t effective, his crossing was poor and he was struggling throughout to be a nuisance. One to forget for him.

John Swift – 3/10

Definitely his worst display in a Baggies shirt. Swift constantly gave possession away needlessly in dangerous areas of the final third, and defensively he struggled to make much of an impact. After an electric start, he was due a downer but this was bad.

Grady Diangana – 7/10

The most electric player in a Baggies shirt throughout the game, but his final product mostly let him down once again despite his goal. He needs to improve that, but the starting position should be his to lose at this point. His “superb” bit of skill in the first half was a highlight.

Karlan Grant – 3/10

Credit to Grant for playing the whole game, but he was clearly not fit and it affected the way that Steve Bruce’s side played. He wasn’t as mobile as usual, but he didn’t get the service to show if he could still finish. A poor showing.

Substitutes

Matty Phillips – 4/10

Came on to help the team chase an equaliser at 2-1 down, but ultimately failed to do so as the team couldn’t create anything significant and he’ll be disappointed.

Okay Yokuslu – 5/10

Still not 100% fit but he showed his ability by keeping possession and ticking the game over to try and maintain the relentless pressure in the second half. Unfortunately though he also wasn’t quite progressive enough and couldn’t find the late goal.

Callum Robinson – 4/10

Robinson was excellent in midweek but he struggled to have any sort of impact in this one. Didn’t give the defence any trouble and didn’t create anything for the team, so ended up being a bit of a wasted substitution.

In other West Brom news, West Brom ace praised for “superb” bit of skill during West Brom defeat to Blackburn