Boro go top after Ayala’s late strike
HE had to wait until 90 minutes had expired, but Tony Pulis got his revenge over the club where he was sacked last season as his current charges moved to the top of the Championship.
Given that Pulis signed half of the West Brom team, there was always a danger these two promotion hopefuls would cancel each other out. And as the fourth official signalled four added minutes, the contest remained goalless.
Not for long. Mo Besic loaded a free- kick to the far post and defender Daniel Ayala got the better of three visiting jerseys — perhaps through use of his hand — before prodding home.
That will not have mattered for Pulis, for him it was a beautiful sight.
Axed by the Baggies after 14 games last November with his team a point above the bottom three, they plummeted under replacement Alan Pardew and were relegated come May.
So how ironic it was that Darren Moore’s side wore the look of a classic Pulis outfit as their resilience and organisation looked to have secured a point until Ayala’s dramatic intervention.
The game started with four England internationals on the pitch, West Brom’s Jake Livermore, Jay Rodriguez and Kieran Gibbs, plus Stewart Downing for the hosts.
But it was Boro who looked like the team boasting international pedigree during a first half in which they dominated, except that is for defender Aden Flint’s clumsy attempt at a clearance which cannoned off his own crossbar.
Boro, though, are now less predictable minus Adama Traore, who joined Wolves for £18.5million. His absence has freed the creative spirit of others, most notably midfielder Jonny Howson.
Last term’s Mr Play It Safe is now taking risks in a more advanced posting and, had it not been for the backside of Britt Assombalonga, Howson’s diving header on five minutes would have found the bottom corner. Instead, it struck his team-mate inside the six-yard area.
Howson — once capped by England Under 21s — drove forward from deep and was unlucky to see his 20-yard strike skid just wide.
Perhaps conscious of his own misfortune in front of goal, Howson then attempted to turn provider for Assombalonga with the cutest of cushions inside the box, but the striker was not on the same wavelength.
It was much of the same after the break and Boro defender Ryan Shotton headed narrowly over from Assombalonga’s delivery.
But Boro were always going to be left exposed if West Brom broke at pace and, in the form of Matt Phillips and Dwight Gayle, they had two speedsters capable of causing harm. Phillips led the twoon-one charge and Gayle accepted his pass only to hesitate when clear on goal and spoon over.
And they paid the price when Ayala struck at the death.