Derby County robbed by West Brom after what BBC pundit spotted at Pride Park
Chris Mepham shouldn’t have had an opportunity to equalise for West Brom against Derby County in the Championship on Friday.
Eric Ramsay’s team travelled to Pride Park on 23 January, with Patrick Agyemang giving the hosts the lead in the 44th minute.
The Baggies pressed forward after the break, looking for an equaliser, and it finally came in the dying minutes of the fixture.
Jacob Widell Zetterstrom got his hands on Mepham’s header in the 95th minute, but the Rams’ goalkeeper was unable to keep it out as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
West Brom corner decision wrong in draw vs Derby County
West Brom should never have had a corner in the dying minutes of the game against Derby, Malcolm Christie says.
The former Rams striker believes the Baggies were wrongly awarded a set-piece opportunity when it should’ve been a goalkick for the hosts before Mepham’s goal.
Derby’s fans have every right to be aggrieved as Josh Maja got the last touch on the ball before it went out as Zetterstrom came out, but the on-field referee gave a decision in the Black Country outfit’s favour.
Speaking on BBC Radio Derby on 23 January, Christie said, “I understand that these decisions are so difficult for officials, but that was a goalkick and not a corner. A judgment call was made, and look, ultimately Derby still need to defend the corner, but it is an absolute sickener.”
Ramsay is already on a tightrope at The Hawthorns after the disastrous performance against Norwich City, but he will surely be breathing a sigh of relief after Mepham’s late equaliser.
The Albion are struggling towards the bottom of the Championship table, and fans in B71 hope the result at Pride Park will be a turning point for them.
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Andrew Nestor gets one more thing wrong at The Hawthorns
West Brom have signed Max O’Leary until the end of the season, but the goalkeeper didn’t have an encouraging debut against Derby.
In the build-up to Agyemang’s opener, the Republic of Ireland international let the ball slip from his hands after a set-piece delivery, with the Rams subsequently scoring.
The Baggies’ struggles can be directly attributed to some of Andrew Nestor’s decisions, and things haven’t been the same at The Hawthorns since Alex Palmer’s departure in February 2025.
Josh Griffiths and Joe Wildsmith have been poor in recent months, and the Albion have seen themselves go from being contenders for promotion to a relegation-threatened team.
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