Lee Hendrie stunned by ‘absolutely brilliant’ Nathaniel Chalobah in West Brom win v QPR
Lee Hendrie was wowed by Nathaniel Chalobah’s role in Grady Diangana’s goal for West Brom in their 2-0 win over QPR on Tuesday night.
QPR were reduced to 10 men in the 58th minute when Jimmy Dunne was shown a second yellow card, seemingly for dissent after Albion were awarded a penalty.
Brandon Thomas-Asante powered in the spot kick before Diangana, in the 68th minute, doubled Albion’s lead at The Hawthorns.
Chalobah grabbed the assist for Diangana’s goal and ex-Aston Villa midfielder Hendrie was impressed by the midfielder’s involvement.
“West Brom have been camped inside QPR’s half and it’s brilliant play,” said Hendrie on Sky Sports News on Tuesday night (24 October, 09:40pm).
“It comes from the left-hand side. Great play from [Matt] Phillips and then it goes to Nathaniel Chalobah, who does absolutely brilliant. He just composes himself in the box, chops, puts Osman Kakay on his backside and rolls it inside.
“Grady Diangana has just got a simple tap-in because Asmir Begovic has just come out to narrow the angle.
“It’s a really well-worked goal and thoroughly deserved in this second half.”
Redemption for Chalobah
That’s two good performances in a row for Chalobah, who went off to a standing ovation when Carlos Corberan subbed him off against QPR on 24 October.
It’s hard to realise this is the same player who was involved in a spat with fans in the Carabao Cup defeat to Stoke City on 8 August.
He’s proven a lot of people wrong with his displays against Plymouth and QPR and his assist for Diangana’s goal was a thing of beauty as he cleverly worked the ball under his feet to play in the ex-West Ham winger to score.
Is he now due an extended run in Corberan’s starting line-up after starting just two league games all season?
You would have thought so but Corberan needs to be wary that the first half against QPR showed a distinct lack of creativity in the side, that only really came out once the away side went down to 10 men on Tuesday night.
Jayson Molumby and Alex Mowatt could provide a bit more going forward than Chalobah on a regular basis but it was good to see what he’s got in his locker with that nice assist for Diangana.
In other West Brom news, here’s why Conor Townsend and Semi Ajayi weren’t in the squad versus QPR.