Danny Wright

Wed 26 April 2023 21:55, UK

Carlos Corberan’s play-off hopes are all but over as West Brom lost 2-0 to Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Wednesday night.

Albion failed to take advantage of their game in hand to move into the Championship’s top six as second-half goals by Sander Berge and Anel Ahmedhodžić confirmed the Blades’ promotion to the Premier League.

Karlan Grant squandered a huge chance to score in the opening minutes while the Baggies will also feel aggrieved to have not been awarded a penalty when the game was still goalless when Brandon Thomas-Asante was clearly fouled inside the home side’s box.

But two avoidable goals in the second half mean West Brom will go into their final two games against Norwich and Swansea in ninth place, two points off Sunderland in sixth.

Here, West Brom News rates the players out of 10 for their performances in South Yorkshire:

Alex Palmer – 5

Palmer couldn’t do too much about the goals he conceded and made no issue of the shots you would have expected him to deal with. In the first half, Palmer kept hoofing the ball up to Brandon Thomas-Asante to little effect and his distribution to defenders also played them into pressurised situations.

Darnell Furlong – 4.5

Furlong did very little going forward and was fortunate to not concede a penalty in the second half for nudging Oli McBurnie in the back when he was about to score for the Blades.

Semi Ajayi – 5

Ajayi kept Ndiaye quiet for most of the game, using his pace well to match the Sheffield United forward. However, when Berge scored, Ajayi did very little to stop Ndiaye from assisting him as he went to ground to try after being dummies by the Senegal international.

Erik Pieters – 5

Pieters was booked in the first half for a mistimed challenge that could have turned ugly had he made any contact. He marshalled the defence well enough for most of the game but prior to being substituted off in the 71st minute, the Blades were massively on top and the Dutchman wasn’t doing much good.

Conor Townsend – 4

Townsend’s had better performances for West Brom. In the first half, he looked as though he dived in a bid to win a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area and early in the second half, a slack pass almost gifted Sheffield United a chance to score. Not good enough.

Okay Yokuslu – 4.5

It’s very obvious that Yokuslu has been rushed back from his injury. We know that the Turkey midfielder is prone to struggling with his fitness so bringing him back too soon has affected his performances a lot. He struggled against Sunderland and struggled again in South Yorkshire.

Jayson Molumby – 4.5

Molumby wasn’t his usual all-action self against the Blades, who blunted the Ireland international’s impact in the middle of the park. We rely a lot on Molumby to play well in order to win matches but he wasn’t at it on Wednesday night.

Taylor Gardner-Hickman – 3

An absolutely ridiculous pass back into his own defence played Ndiaye in to assist Berge’s goal and then for Ahmedhodzic’s goal, he was initially marking the Bosnia international, lost him, failed to pick him up and then it was 2-0. Gardner-Hickman is a young lad with a lot of ability but he didn’t really show that. Both goals could go down as being his fault.

Jed Wallace – 6

Wallace was arguably West Brom’s best player. If we had someone who could score a goal in the penalty area, we may have scored one or two goals as a result of Wallace’s wing play. Karlan Grant squandered a huge chance in the opening minutes when Wallace put it on a plate for him with a cross to the back post. Don Goodman kept saying in commentary how no one was joining in with the attack, leaving Wallace with either none or too few targets to aim at.

Karlan Grant – 4

It’s easy to see why Corberan isn’t a fan of Grant. He sold him when he was Huddersfield manager and regularly left him out of the starting line-up until injuries left him with no option but to start the £15million flop. Grant missed a big chance to score in the opening couple of minutes after an inch-perfect cross by Wallace and offered little else in the attack throughout.

Brandon Thomas-Asante – 5

Thomas-Asante didn’t have a single chance to get on the scoresheet because he was either playing too deep or the support wasn’t there for him. At 0-0 in the first half, he was unfortunate to not win a penalty when he was clearly fouled inside the penalty area. West Brom were awarded a free-kick but for some unfathomable reason, the linesman couldn’t see that BTA was brought down in the box.

Substitutes:

John Swift (on for Yokuslu, 71′) – 4

Kyle Bartley (on for Pieters, 71′) – 5

Marc Albrighton (on for Grant, 78′) – 4

Jovan Malcolm (on for Wallace, 90+2′) – N/A

In other West Brom news, this Baggies attacker is likely to miss the remaining games of the season.