Carlos Corberan must take blame for West Brom howler – Three things learned in loss v Birmingham
West Brom were on the end of a controversial 3-1 loss at the hands of West Midlands rivals Birmingham City at St Andrew’s on Friday (6 October).
John Swift gave Albion an early lead on enemy territory with his sixth goal of the Championship campaign, but Birmingham soon hit back.
City’s equaliser was a controversial one, though, as the referee awarded a weak penalty that Juninho Bacuna stuck away.
Dion Sanderson put the hosts ahead before half-time and Gary Gardener added a late third to end West Brom’s five-game unbeaten run.
Here’s three things West Brom News learned from Albion’s defeat.
Corberan criticism
Albion boss Carlos Corberan has not got a great deal wrong this season, but questions must be asked of his team selection. While it is easy to question the line-up fielded in hindsight, leaving out Brandon Thomas-Asante – even if not in great form – was a big decision and one that did not pay off.
Not only did Corberan tinker with his attack, he also opted to leave fit-again Semi Ajayi on the substitutes’ bench again – a decision that looked even worse after his side conceded three times in a league game for the first time since May.
Corberan replaced both wing-backs during the match, meaning a second appearance since arriving on deadline day for Pipa, who must surely be wondering why he has only been given 14 minutes of action to date.
Shocking call
All that said, it may well have been an entirely different outcome had referee James Linington not awarded the softest of penalties to Birmingham – a decision that changed the flow of the game.
Kipre was adjudged to have fouled Koji Miyoshi in the penalty area, allowing Juninho Bacuna the chance to level proceedings from 12 yards, but replays showed there was never enough in it for a spot-kick to be awarded.
The centre-back also lost the ball in the build-up to the attack, so it was a day to forget all-around.
Swiftly done
West Brom made the brightest of starts at St Andrew’s thanks to Swift’s fine finish from range, with that his sixth goal in 10 league appearances this season. In fact, those six goals had come from just seven shots on target – talk about efficiency.
The versatile midfielder is now one goal off his tally from the whole of last season and is undroppable from the side on current form – assuming the injury that saw him limp off is not too serious. Unfortunately for him, many of his other colleagues did not show up on the night.
In other West Brom news, a player was given a 1/10 rating for his performance.