New era beckons but Baggies are beaten
Shilen Patel’s big night didn’t bring the result he wanted — but West Bromwich albion supporters will take the setback of one defeat if he brings a long-term change of fortune.
Goals from Ryan Fraser and David Brooks gave fellow promotion hopefuls southampton a win that lifted them back into the Championship’s top two, at least for a few hours.
For the home fans, though, this was all about celebrating a new beginning off the field, with a takeover set to be officially completed next week.
Investor Patel flew in from Florida to take a seat in the directors’ box at the hawthorns, less than 24 hours after agreeing a £60million deal to buy the club from the unpopular Guochuan lai.
Fans are hopeful that Patel will bring much- needed financial muscle to albion after nearly eight years of uncertainty and underinvestment on lai’s watch.
The prospective chairman was greeted with cheers before kick-off — only to see West Brom get off to just about the worst possible start.
Carlos Corberan was sent to the stands in bizarre circumstances with only six minutes played, after referee sam allison spotted that the manager had strayed from his technical area and touched the ball with a foot while it was still in play.
The hosts, struggling to keep pace with southampton’s quick passing, then almost gave away a goal as alex Palmer’s loose pass was intercepted by sekou Mara to put adam armstrong through one-on-one — but the goalkeeper atoned for his error by spreading himself to block the shot.
It was only a brief respite as southampton did score just before the 15-minute mark, as Fraser found space at the far post to steer in a classy volley from stuart armstrong’s first-time cross following a short corner.
For a while, it looked as though West Brom might go under, but they grew into the game and were unlucky not to be level by halftime as John swift drilled a 25-yard shot just wide.
Darnell Furlong had a penalty appeal rejected as his header struck the arm of Jack stephens, who seconds later cleared from under his own crossbar after Okay Yokuslu had flicked on a corner.
Albion struggled to build on that momentum in the second half, though, and they were finished off in the 73rd minute, as Brooks collected fellow substitute samuel edozie’s square pass and slotted in his first goal since arriving on loan from Bournemouth late last month.
Still Corberan’s players did not give up, but it was not their night — as proved when Gavin Bazunu leapt brilliantly to push away Jan Bednarek’s diving header.