George Overhill

Sat 20 January 2024 16:56, UK

West Brom produced a sloppy performance to drop points in the promotion push as they lost 2-0 away at Norwich City.

Josh Sargent put the hosts ahead after 13 minutes after the Baggies lost possession in their opponents’ half and were hit on the counter, and Carlos Corberan’s side were under pressure for more of the half before Brandon Thomas-Asante’s stoppage-time finish was ruled out for a handball.

West Brom looked far more threatening after the interval as Andi Weimann came on for his debut and Jed Wallace and John Swift came to the fore, but Norwich doubled their lead in the 71st minute as Jonathan Rowe finished off another counter-attack.

Here, West Brom News rates the Baggies players out of 10 for their performances at Carrow Road.

Alex Palmer – 6

Will have been very disappointed to get a strong hand on Sargent’s shot only for it to go under him and in but rebounded to make a couple of important saves before the break and couldn’t do much for Rowe’s second from close range.

Darnell Furlong (off for Pipa ’83) – 7 (Man of the Match)

Not a bad performance amid a poor day collectively. Threw himself into an important block on a Sargent shot on the edge of the box with the Baggies under pressure in the first half and was so close to winning a penalty as he looked to nick the ball past Angus Gunn in a dangerous position. Again went close with a header late on.

Kyle Bartley (off for Taylor ’83) – 6

Rough day that arguably owed more to the failings around him than his own play. Booked minutes after the opening goal as West Brom looked rattled, with a slight risk of being deemed the last man by the referee as he brought down a breaking Borja Sainz. Did some important defensive work under pressure in his own box more than once but was slow to close down Rowe’s finish for the second.

Cedric Kipré – 5

Poor defensively. Failed in a rushed attempt to play Sargent offside as Norwich came forward on the counter, allowing the American to run clear and score the opener and looked uncharacteristically shaky under pressure at the back in the first 45. Better in the second half as the Baggies took control of the game but didn’t have much to repel until the second Norwich goal where he stepped out of defence and was played around, leaving a gap in the box where Rowe scored from.

Conor Townsend – 6

Got forward early to provide good attacking threat from the left flank as West Brom looked most likely to make a breakthrough from his side in a poor first 45 minutes, but he arguably left too much space in behind him though when Norwich were on top after their goal.

Okay Yokuslu (off for Chalobah ’36) – 2

Dismal afternoon which was cut short by injury. Lost the ball with a blind reverse pass going forward that led to the Norwich opener on the break, then immediately repeated his error as he conceded possession sloppily within minutes to cause Bartley to get booked as he halted what looked to be another dangerous break. His miserable outing was ended when he went down hurt inside 35 minutes as he was left chasing Canaries attacks repeatedly and was replaced.

Alex Mowatt – 5

Scruffy game that was far from his best. Part of an anonymous midfield in the first half that formed next to nothing of a barrier in front of the West Brom defence. Slightly better after the half as he got involved with the attack but it was his pass that was cut out to spark the counter which saw Norwich score their second.

Adam Reach (off for Weimann ’46) – 5

Poor half. Reasonably neat in possession but offered little decisive going forward and far too weak in the challenge as Norwich attacked in waves during the opening period.

Jed Wallace – 7

Quality deliveries from the right were in evidence from the first few minutes but he couldn’t generate much of his usual impact on the day. Looked a lot sharper in the second period as he found Swift with an excellent cut back and then volleyed narrowly wide himself. Good on the ball but his frustration was evident as he crashed into a heavy foul and was booked late on.

John Swift – 6

Sloppiness undercut his better contributions. Wasn’t afforded much opportunity to show his quality in the first half but curled a lovely ball into the box with the outside of his foot which almost saw Furlong win a penalty before the break. More involved after the interval and was at the centre of the West Brom response for a while, but fired wide of the far post when he should have done better with a good chance. Very poor effort as he jogged aimlessly back while Norwich broke easily right past him to double their lead.

Brandon Thomas-Asante (off for Dike ’69) – 7

Frustrating day despite a decent performance personally. Took a last-ditch challenge to prevent him from converting inside 10 minutes amid a sharp start and what appeared to be a leveller, smashed home in first-half stoppage time, was then ruled out for a handball as he demonstrated his goal threat despite feeding on scraps. Perhaps should have done better with an unmarked header in his only clear-cut chance of the second period.

Substitutes

Nathaniel Chalobah (on for Yokuslu ’36) – 7

Major improvement on a catastrophic showing from Yokuslu and much better on the ball but conceded some unnecessary fouls and played past with relative ease for the second Canaries goal.

Andi Weimann (on for Reach ’46) – 6

Okay on his Baggies debut for the January signing and provided an immediate extra element to the attack but faded after an early spark. Could have had an assist with a knockdown for Dike but skied a decent chance late on.

Daryl Dike (on for Thomas-Asante ’69) – 4

Radar was well off and couldn’t do anything with some late chances and was offside repeatedly.

Pipa (on for Furlong ’83) – 6

Caleb Taylor (on for Bartley ’83) – 6

In other West Brom news, the likely solution to the unpaid millions from Guochuan Lai has emerged amid takeover developments at The Hawthorns.

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