Heggem slammed over ‘inexplicable’ moment in West Brom loss v Sunderland
West Brom’s promotion hopes are no longer in their own hands after suffering defeat to Sunderland at The Hawthorns.
Tony Mowbray‘s men have stuttered of late and a second successive defeat sees them now relying on favours from elsewhere to finish in the top six.
Trai Hume’s goal after 35 minutes earned Sunderland a 1-0 win over promotion rivals West Brom, with Joe Wildsmith the man at fault for that winning goal.
Dave Edwards blasts Heggem in Sunderland loss
Torbjorn Heggem played 79 minutes of Saturday’s (5 April) contest and, while he had a solid enough game on the whole, he was involved in one particularly sloppy moment.
A pretty terrible corner from Patrick Roberts should have been cleared easily at the front post, but Heggem and Jayson Molumby both failed to deal with it.
Instead, Wildsmith got a touch to the ball and Kyle Bartley thumped it clear, thankfully before any visiting player could get on the end of it.
Speaking live on the Sky Sports+ coverage of the game (5 April, 1:21pm), pundit Edwards said: “It’s inexplicable at the front post to both leave it.
“Heggem wasn’t sure about it, nor was Molumby, and in the end it’s an important touch from Wildsmith. Heggem is the one, though – you feel he should come onto that with his left.”
West Brom’s remaining fixtures
West Brom fans have turned on Tony Mowbray – or a certain section of them, at least – on the back of this latest defeat.
The loss to Sunderland comes on the back of losing to Norwich City last weekend, with Albion now collecting just two points from the past 12 on offer.
| West Brom | Sunderland | |
| Shots | 21 | 7 |
| Shots on target | 3 | 3 |
| Possession | 63% | 37% |
| Passes | 432 | 258 |
Albion now require some favours across the remaining seven games of the campaign, while themselves picking up some consistent wins.
That begins with Tuesday’s (8 April) clash with Bristol City at Ashton Gate, before then hosting Watford at The Hawthorns in a week’s time.
Finishing in the top six was taken for granted for so long by many West Brom fans, but now the reality is that finishing outside the playoffs is a strong likelihood.