West Brom controversies vs Norwich that could spark fireworks at Carrow Road
West Brom will need to have their wits about them when they travel to Carrow Road on Wednesday.
Ryan Mason will hope to resurrect Albion’s Premier League promotion hopes when West Brom take on Norwich City on 1 October.
The Baggies have failed to register a win in their last three Championship games, after Albion’s defeat to Derby County at The Hawthorns set off a chain of unwanted events.
However, given the history between the two sides, Mason could have his work cut out for him.
Handball on Sam Byram equaliser (September 2022)
West Brom conceded a last-minute equaliser to Leicester City to rob them of all three points at The Hawthorns.
However, the equaliser scored by Sam Byram has haunted West Brom fans over the years.
Dara O’Shea’s header fired the Baggies’ in front, but a first Norwich goal for Byram rescued a point for the home side, who had been dominated all game.
Albion fans and players were left furious when the goal stood, claiming the ball had struck Byram on the arm.
In quotes provided by Sky Sports on 17 September 2022, former Baggies manager Steve Bruce was unimpressed.
He said: “We should have won. We have had big decisions go against us. It is handball, their goal. Absolute stonewall penalty, it doesn’t matter if the ball is going out of play, Swifty has got a touch and the boy (Grant) Hanley has barged into him. It is a penalty.
“I’m not going to criticise them because I know how hard the job is but we have been harshly done by…I can’t see anything more stonewall than that one.”
Borja Sainz sent off for Norwich (Dec 2023)
One game that probably isn’t vacating the minds of West Brom fans anytime soon is Albion’s 1-0 win over Norwich on 26 December 2023.
Despite being on a yellow card, Borja Sainz saw red after 33 minutes at The Hawthorns after waving an imaginary yellow card at the referee.
Former Tottenham manager, covering the game for Sky Sports News, accused Sainz of letting his team down.
He said: “He’s going to the referee you should book him (John Swift) for a tackle, it’s his second bookable offence and he’s sent him off, why would you do that?
“You know the referee’s going to give you the card and he gives him a second booking and he’s sent him off, 10 men Norwich.
“He should have scored about a minute earlier as well he had a fantastic opportunity to do so but he’s lifting his hand up telling the referee what he should do, just leave it mate. You’ve let your side down, now you’re down to 10 men it’s uphill struggle, it was anyway. Wagner can’t be happy with him.”
Disallowed penalty for Norwich (April 2023)
Jed Wallace netted the winner for West Brom in a 2-1 victory over Norwich on 29 April 2023 to keep the Baggies in play-off contention.
- Norwich registered 10 interceptions against Albion, double the home team
- West Brom had 48.2 per cent posession and won six corners
- Albion won 53.1 per cent of their aerial duels to Norwich’s 46.9 per cent
However, the travelling side felt that they should have been granted a penalty when Gabriel Sara was denied a penalty, suggesting that Semi Ajayi trod on his foot in the area.
In quotes provided by Sky Sports News, former Norwich manager David Wagner said: “To be honest, I think we played a first half that was decent. We created good opportunities, scored a wonderful goal.
“I think we were very unlucky in the first half with the penalty incident we did not get and with the incident before the free-kick [that Townsend scored from] because, for me, it’s totally clear it’s a foul in our favour and not a free-kick for West Brom.”
With a confrontation with rich history for both sides, fans could expect fireworks at Carrow Road.
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