IT’S BIG TIME CHARLIE!
Austin powers Bilic’s boys closer to Premier League... but Hull in big trouble
IT WAS Charlie Austin who spoke in the week about West Bromwich Albion’s final push for promotion not needing to be ‘pretty’ in any way, shape or form.
There was no need for a beauty contest, just performances that hauled them over the line and back to the Premier League. Clearly, his team-mates were listening.
This was an ugly performance at times, not least in defence as Hull City were twice allowed to equalise and threatened further goals, but the Baggies got the job done in the end. Once again, they’re five points ahead of the relentless
Brentford. With five matches to play, their destiny remains in their own hands. The Premier League beckons, the mission is almost complete.
Thankfully for Slaven Bilic and his team, they boast one player who very much cares about the aesthetics of football. This win, as have many others this season, belonged to their Brazilian winger Matheus Pereira.
A hat-trick of assists — for birthday boy Austin early on, Ahmed Hegazi and Kamil Grosicki — took Pereira’s total in that department to 19 for the season.
These creative trebles aren’t seen very often. If not deserving of a matchball as is traditionally presented to a hat-trick scorer, then Pereira deserved some form of souvenir for a gorgeous afternoon.
Promotion in a week or two will no doubt suffice for a player whose loan move from Sporting Lisbon has now been made permanent for £9million.
Bilic summed it up. ‘It was a
frantic game,’ he said. ‘They put us under pressure with a very simple way of football.
‘We were nervy, we were afraid that they were going to hurt us. And when you’re afraid they can hurt you, they will hurt you.
‘But Matheus was brilliant with his movement, passing and pressing — and it’s great to have him like this.’
Hull care little for beauty at the moment, either, as they fight desperately for their Championship life.
They equalised twice, through Kevin Stewart and Mallik Wilks, increasingly looking like a gem of their own, before West Brom finally squirmed free of their clutches, Grady Diangana sealing it late on. With
Middlesbrough beaten by Queens Park Rangers, it is as you were either side of the relegation line. Hull are in a perilous position, their last few games will be fraught but, on this evidence, they look far from condemned.
It took just four minutes for the Baggies to power in front, thanks to Austin, celebrating his 31st birthday. Elevated by Bilic from the substitutes’ bench and into the starting line-up in recent weeks, the team’s leading scorer made it 11 for the season.
Pereira pinged a cross from the right that Stewart made a half-hearted attempt to cut out. The Hull midfielder only helped it through to Austin, who controlled on his chest and prodded home. Everyone expected Hull to simply roll over at this point but they replied well via Stewart, charging into the box. He found the net via two deflections.
West Brom dominated the remainder of the first half and Hegazi restored their lead in simple fashion, meeting a Pereira corner to head home from five yards. It was Hegazi’s first goal since November 2018 and what a time for it.
But West Brom’s inability to extend their lead was punished three minutes after the break. Fragility at the back was exposed again, with Wilks able to meet a cross by Leonardo Lopes and thump home a header for 2-2.
It was sloppy from the promotion chasers but at least their reaction was swift. Inevitably, it was Pereira dictating matters, supplying the perfect 30-yard pass into Grosicki, who raced inside Matt Pennington to clip home against his old club.
Hull did not surrender and threatened a third equaliser, but couldn’t find it. It took fresh legs from the bench and some dazzling footwork to make sure for West Brom. Diangana skipped past two challenges before finishing just inside the near post.
‘Some of the goals were unacceptable,’ said Hull manager Grant McCann, whose side are just a point clear of the bottom three.
WAyne rooney’s last brush with an english derby did not go to plan. hauled off after less than an hour by sam Allardyce, he turned the air everton blue as he steamed down the tunnel at Goodison Park.
two years on, wearing derby white in his first east midlands duel, he pushed his legs through to the final whistle for the first time since football’s resumption. this time, he was able to exert some influence on the result.
rooney’s free-kick caused the scramble which led to an equaliser against nottingham Forest, bundled over the line by Chris martin in the seventh minute of stoppage time.
derby’s run of five Championship wins on the bounce came to an end, but the spirit is healthy and promotion hopes remain.
‘I prefer to have him on the pitch for 90 minutes,’ said boss Phillip Cocu. ‘In the games before it was not possible but he is improving, his fitness is improving. he is important for the team, keeping them together, set-plays — and he proved it again.’
At 34, rooney is a more solid presence than ever, heavily bearded and strong on the ball, thicker around the middle than in his prime but every touch is true and each pass weighted with precision.
there is still dynamite in his boots. When he wants to power through the ball, it explodes. But he prefers to move it short, searching for a change of angle and the chance to release the youngsters around him with more pace in their legs.
there are coaching duties, too. At the first water break, with derby trailing to a wonderful goal by Joe lolley, Cocu spoke only to rooney and, when they were done, the captain made a beeline for 19-year- old Jason Knight to cajole and instruct.
he is a midfield general these days, although that was not the plan when he arrived from dC united in the us. ‘ my thoughts were for him to be more of a striker or a no 10 as his first option, and he agreed,’ said Cocu. ‘maybe it was a surprise for both of us that he’s ended up playing almost like a holding midfielder, and he does it so well with his decisions and his passing game.
‘sometimes, later in your career, you can get another position and surprise yourself.’
Parallels to dave mackay are impossible to avoid. mackay was already a champion and a legend when Brian Clough persuaded him to leave tottenham for derby at the age of 34, drop into the second tier and adapt from midfield to central defence.
‘the best day’s work of my life,’ Clough called it. mackay embraced the challenge, led them to promotion and a fourth-place finish in the top flight.
he left his mark on young players such as roy mcFarland. ‘What a leader he was,’ said mcFarland. ‘the pictures you see of dave are with his chest out — that’s how he played and lived his life.’
mackay had left to pursue his managerial ambitions by the time derby won the title in 1972, but he returned to secure his place in derby folklore by leaving the Forest dugout to replace Clough and take them to their second title, in 1975.
Images of these times at the Baseball Ground are plastered on the walls at Pride Park. A statue of mackay guards the players’ entrance and a flag in his honour was draped across empty seats in the south stand, behind the goal into which martin bundled the equaliser on saturday, once Forest goalkeeper Brice samba had failed to gather rooney’s deep free-kick.
england’s record goalscorer did not add to his tally of six goals for derby and nor did he enjoy his most effective display. Forest worked hard to nullify his threat and denied him channels in which to pass.
Indeed, derby may fall short of promotion this season, but as with mackay, rooney is leading with his chest out.
he made sure they did not give in. not even when down to 10 men following martyn Waghorn’s red card for a dangerous tackle. And this time, he was still there at the end as they scrapped for a vital point.