Salomon’s sitter so Pard to take
<M<IP B@:B# <M<IP >F8C# <M<IP >8D<# BAGGIES BOSS RUES MISSED CHANCES
WEST BROM (4-4-2): Foster 7; Dawson 7, Evans 7, Hegazi 7, Gibbs 7: Brunt Livermore 8, BARRY 8, 6 (Krychowiak 69, 5) Phillips 7 88); Rodriguez (McClean 6, Rondon 4 (Robson-Kanu 50, Subs: Myhill, 5). Nyom, Yacob, McAuley. UP NEXT: Arsenal (h), Premier League, Saturday. EVERTON (4-2-3-1): Pickford 7; Holgate 6, KEANE 7, Williams 7, Kenny 6; Schneiderlin 5, Davies 6 (Baningime 88); Bolasie 6 (Lennon 61, 6), Sigurdsson 5, Martina 5; Calvert-Lewin 61, 5 (Niasse 6). Subs: Robles, Jagielka, Ramirez, UP NEXT: Lookman. Bournemouth (a), Premier League, Saturday. Referee: Roger East 7. YOUR TURN: How many goals did Gareth Barry score in 155 appearances for Everton joining before Albion in the summer – 1, 5 or 15?
ALAN PARDEW was left cursing missed chances as West Brom’s winless streak moved on to 18.
The struggling Baggies missed a series of good early chances and it ended up really hurting them as injury-ravaged Everton nicked a point and took their unbeaten run to eight.
How different it could have been had Salomon Rondon not missed an absolute sitter six minutes into the game.
Pardew had every reason to feel flat after seeing his side dominate the game but having to settle for a draw.
He said: “Nine times out of 10 you win that game. I’m not sure whether missing early chances affected the strikers or not but moments like that can change things.
“The shame is it could have been a really significant win with the way the other results went but we have to keep our frustration in check.”
Wives
Everton boss Sam Allardyce acknowledged he needs to get a quality striker in January but ruled out revisiting a move for Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud.
Allardyce said: “He refused to come before because he doesn’t want to move north of Watford, or his wife may not.
“It’s very important to the wives. Normally they are the bosses and I say that with experience.”
Looking at the table now, it’s hard to believe West Brom took seven points from their opening three games and were near the top of the table.
But they have not won since starting with victories in August against Bournemouth and Burnley.
Who knows what might have happened had Wayne Rooney been on hand? But he was sent home ill on the day of the game despite travelling down.
Allardyce said: “He went back this morning. Hopefully his course of antibiotics will shift his problem quickly.”
The longer the game went on, one wondered if the missed chances would come back to haunt the home side with Rondon’s the pick of the bunch. It’s hard to know exactly what the big striker had in mind when Jay Rodriguez picked him out with a cross that arrowed across the six-yard box.
There was Rondon ideally placed four yards out but seemed to be in two minds and ended up stabbing at it.
A few minutes later another big opportunity went begging when Chris Brunt failed to connect with a header from Matt Phillips’ cross.
In fairness to Brunt, who has one of the sweetest left pegs in the game, heading is not one of his specialities.
In the 19th minute, Craig Dawson sent a close range header flying over, though Phillips’ cross was a fraction too high for him to get over it.
Five minutes after the break Rondon’s miserable afternoon was complete when he missed another good opportunity and appeared to injure himself in the process.
He was sent racing clear by Brunt’s incisive pass but when he pulled back the hammer 10 yards out at an angle with only the keeper to beat he sliced it so far high and wide of the mark, it was almost laughable.
Albion continued to have the better of the second half and though they did not carve out as many clear cut chances, Rodriguez will have felt he should have done better with a header from 12 yards out which lacked power and direction.
Such was West Brom’s domination that their keeper Ben Foster had only had to deal with routine stuff before he was called into action to make his first proper stop with 89 minutes on the clock.
He did well to block Oumar Niasse’s angled shot with his feet and then recovered quickly to deal with a less dangerous second effort.