West Brom: Tony Brown wowed by what ‘delicious’ Jed Wallace did despite defeat by Southampton
Jed Wallace’s pass which almost led to an equaliser for West Brom against Southampton just before the break was “delicious”, in the words of Tony Brown.
Moments before a controversial incident which saw the Baggies denied a penalty in first-half stoppage time the ex-Albion forward reacted live on BBC Radio WM as the captain fired a ball across the Saints goal which Conor Townsend failed to convert.
Brown was delighted by the delivery but less impressed by the lack of a finish, as West Brom looked to equalise an early Ryan Fraser goal as new owner Shilen Patel watched on from the stands.
Bomber said, via the BBC Sport liveblog (16 February): “Inches away. It’s a delicious ball in from Jed Wallace, it just needed a touch, he could not get a connection. He has missed it completely.
“Much better from Albion, now they won’t want the half-time whistle to go as they have ground a way back into this game. All of a sudden Southampton have a few problems.”
Townsend can’t match Wallace quality as West Brom lose to Southampton
After being caught cold in an uncharacteristically slack start from the Baggies and manager Carlos Corberan the home side grew into the game.
But they couldn’t make their dominance pay when they were at their best late in the half and the chance to get back into it was missed.
A lack of timing, luck, or sharp officiating conspired to see West Brom go in at the break behind and unable to create the same threat again until they’d gone two down to David Brooks after 73 minutes.
Had Townsend got on the end of the Wallace ball, or had Darnell Furlong been awarded a penalty after he had got on the end of an excellent cross from Mikey Johnston, it could have been very different.
Jack Stephens was the Saints defender who escaped punishment for an apparent handball before immediately clearing an Okay Yokuslu header off the line, which rather suggested it wasn’t going to be the Baggies’ night.
For so long since Corberan arrived the performances on the pitch have been in stark contrast to the uncertainty and concern off it, but 24 hours after the announcement that Patel is ending the miserable Guochuan Lai era it was a role reversal in a frustrating 2-0 loss.
In other West Brom news, the takeover won’t stop several players heading for The Hawthorns exit door.
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