West Brom player ratings v Leeds United: Alex Palmer stars for the Baggies, Erik Pieters poor
West Brom got a valuable point during a tricky trip away to Leeds United at a noisy Elland Road under the lights.
Some might argue they were fortunate not to lose the match. Leeds were the better side, although Carlos Corberan will point to the resilience of his team, with Alex Palmer unlucky not to keep a clean sheet.
Brandon Thomas-Asante was credited with a rather fortunate goal after Jayson Molumby’s strike hit his hand on the way in. Erik Pieters’ sloppy piece of defending allowed Luke Ayling to level the match.
Here are our ratings from the game:
Alex Palmer – 8
Made a good save early on and another wonderful save just after the hour mark, denying Dan James from distance. He could do nothing about the goal.
Semi Ajayi – 6
Won the majority of his aerial duels, and was fairly consistent in his passing but did give the ball away on a fair few occasions.
Cedric Kipre – 7
Looked shaky at times, and was fortunate not to give away a penalty in the second half. Besides that, he was solid defensively, making a number of tackles and clearances and winning the majority of his duels, without giving the ball away on too many occasions.
Erik Pieters – 4
Beaten far too easily by Luke Ayling for the equaliser, looked as if he didn’t even make an attempt to get off the ground. Went about the rest of his defensive work okay, but his giveaway for the goal was hard to forgive and he was hooked shortly after.
Darnell Furlong – 5
Gave the ball away plenty of times and didn’t have enough of an impact on the proceedings.
Jayson Molumby – 6
Sloppy touch in the first half forced him to bring down Dan James, which he was booked for. Lucky not to be booked twice after an earlier handball, but made up for his first-half sloppiness with his involvement in West Brom’s goal in the 52nd minute. Went about the rest of his midfield work tidily.
Okay Yokuslu – 6
Completed the majority of his passes and made some important tackles in the middle of the park, with no noteworthy contributions going forward but also no notable defensive errors.
Matt Phillips – 5
Tried his best going forward but the majority of his crosses didn’t come off and plenty of his passes were misplaced. Didn’t have as much of an impact on the game as he would have liked.
Jed Wallace – 6
Quiet throughout, but a clever strike early in the second half which was tipped onto the crossbar by the Leeds shot-stopper. Not successful with any of his crosses but rarely misplaced a pass.
John Swift – 5
An uneventful performance, tried things and looked positive in moments but was rarely able to deliver many balls into the box which had any quality.
Brandon Thomas-Asante – 7
Got a goal through a stroke of fortune after it deflected in off of his hand. Looked bright in moments and played some clever passes while rarely giving the ball away.
Subs
Josh Maja – 5
Jeremy Sarmiento – 5
Connor Townsend – 5
Nathaniel Chalobah – N/A
Taylor Gardner-Hickman – N/A
In other West Brom news, the club are targeting a signing on a free transfer.