West Brom report and Southampton player ratings as the Baggies’ unbeaten run comes to an end; However, they were the better team
West Brom were unable to assert their superiority on the south coast as they were beaten by play-off rivals Southampton in the latter stages of the final match before the upcoming foreign break. Albion went down early when Will Smallbone struck, but they rightly equalised. when Kyle Bartley spun from close range. Adam Armstrong, one of the most productive shooters at this level, made the difference in the final quarter of an hour after a costly defensive error.
It was not an ideal start. The Albion have not fallen behind in a game since Watford’s absence, to which, incidentally, they responded temporarily by allowing Tom Ince to decide his place. Here, despite the more productive efforts of Alex Palmer rejecting Adam Armstrong in pre-season, Smallbone was on hand to force the ball over the line, despite the efforts of Conor Townsend.
It was a bit of a surprise for the system to fall so early against one of the few groups that are above Albion in the table of late, but the Baggies bounced back in the first half and conceded as well as they did. Okay, Yokuslu and Brandon Thomas-Asante had decent openings as Albion pressed well and prepared their own clever moves.
Rather than giving as well as they did in the second half, they dominated the first 20 minutes. Thomas-Asante had a vision of purpose and the arrival of Alex Mowatt helped speed things up in the middle. The equaliser came thanks to Jed Wallace’s brilliance on the right. His depraved surrender made its way to the bar through Asante, but Bartley was available to return home.
However, Southampton are like Albion 2018. Newly relegated, they still possess genuine quality, especially at this level, so even if you can dominate some of the football, they will most likely concede goals at any time. That’s precisely what happened, with 12 minutes remaining, when Ryan Fraser’s shot from the left found its way to the post and Adam Armstrong, unmarked, one of the most sensible scorers in the league, fired a low shot from close range to Palmer.
It is the third time in a row that Albion have lost the last game before an overseas break, a trend they have not been able to counteract here, but you can see things, even in defeat, that are satisfactory. Albion’s unbeaten streak is over, yet in terms of functionality levels, there was no respite.
Palmero 7
Excellent early save, but it may not do any good for Smallbone’s follow-up to open the scoring. Be careful and considerate when picking up aerial bullets. Not exactly a draw for Armstrong’s late shot from close range.