MIDWEEK MARVELS
West Brom, Nottingham Forest and Hull prove four-midable
WEST Brom, Nottingham Forest and Hull turned in four-midable performances in their midweek match-ups.
League leaders West Brom notched an impressive 4-1 win against Bristol City to regain top spot after Leeds had temporarily knocked them off their perch.
Returning full-back Kieran Gibbs slotted the Baggies ahead on ten minutes, taking advantage of an exquisite backheel from the influential Grady Diangana.
Slaven Bilic’s men doubled their advantage six minutes before the break when Matheus Pereira nonchalantly wafted a free-kick from just outside the box into the top corner.
City had hope when Famara Diedhiou drilled home with ten minutes left, but it was quickly snuffed out as Hal Robson-Kanu and sub Charlie Austin netted from close-range, both with a hint of offside about them, to wrap up victory.
Delighted boss Bilic said: “We showed physicality, shape, one against ones, pace, skill, crosses, second balls - everything. We slaughtered them on second balls and that’s what pleased me.”
Deflated Robins boss Lee Johnson said: “We came with ambition but we didn’t start. We were shy the second balls and we weren’t aggressive enough. Disappointing is an understatement.”
Nottingham Forest moved up a place to fourth with a thumping 4-0 win at QPR, managed by former Forest boss Mark Warburton.
Tobias Figueiredo headed the visitors into the lead on 15 minutes and they also had a man advantage when QPR’s Lee Wallace was sent off for bringing down Joe Lolley just outside the area five minutes into the second half.
Forest made their extra man count in the final ten minutes with Lewis Grabban and substitutes Joao Carvalho and Alfa Semedo all getting on the scoresheet.
Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi said: “We played offensively, we played at times quickly and we missed some easy passes, but it was a great result and a great performance.”
Frustrated QPR boss Warburton groaned: “I thought the red card was exceptionally harsh. I’ve watched it back four or five times and I see what I thought was a yellow card. It changes the dynamic of the game.”
Hull also notched a 4-0 success, though on home turf, as they dismantled high-flying Preston.
Success
Preston’s Sean Maguire was unlucky when his curling effort hit the post and Hull made the most of the reprieve. The ever-dangerous Jarrod Bowen netted from close-range to break the deadlock on the half-hour, but it was in the second half when the Tigers really cut loose.
Josh Magennis converted from the penalty spot on his return from suspension to double the lead on 48 minutes.
Polish star Kamil Grosicki added a third just three minutes laton er, slotting home after more good work by Bowen. The latter rubbed salt into Preston wounds by rifling home from a tight angle to wrap up the scoring in the 77th minute. It was Bowen’s 50th goal for the Tigers, who climbed to ninth.
“It’s probably our most compete performance of the season,” purred Hull boss Grant McCann. “Every single one of them was outstanding.”
Shell-shocked Preston boss Alex Neil said: “We came up against a team where their best players are their wide players and all my full-backs are missing, so I knew it was going to be difficult. They were ruthless when they got into good positions.”
Fulham also got among the goals, cruising to a 3-0 success against Derby at Craven Cottage to move third. Bobby Decordova-Reid (seven minutes), Aleksandar Mitrovic (40), with his 13th
league goal of the season, and Tom Cairney (89) were on target for the Whites.
Fulham boss Scott Parker enthused: “I thought we executed everything we spoke about in the last few days. I’m really pleased with the team.”
As mentioned earlier, Leeds earned a short stint at the top of the table, thanks to a hardfought 1-0 win at lowly Reading on Tuesday night.
It looked as though the game would finish honours even, but Jack Harrison headed home at the far post in the 87th minute to earn the Yorkshire side all three points. They slipped back to second after West Brom’s victory the following night.
Swansea remained sixth after a 1-1 draw at Huddersfield. Jay Fulton put the Swans ahead on 18 minutes, but Karlan Grant levelled things up four minutes before the break. The Terriers had to play the final four minutes with ten men after Trevoh Chalobah was sent off for a headbutt, but they held on for a point.
Pressure
Leandro Bacuna fired home an 11th minute winner against
Stoke to give new Cardiff boss Neil Harris a win in his first home game in charge. It was Michael O’Neill’s first defeat as Potters boss.
Bradley Dack also netted a decisive goal in the 11th minute as Blackburn edged out Brentford at Ewood Park, while Ashley Fletcher scored the only goal as Middlesbrough edged out Barnsley in a basement battle to ease the pressure on boss Jonathan Woodgate.
In a match overshadowed by the feud between Sheffield
Wednesday boss Garry Monk and his Birmingham counterpart Pep Clotet, it finished allsquare. Alvaro Gimenez flicked Birmingham ahead on 48 minutes, but Kadeem Harris drilled home an excellent equaliser nine minutes from time.
Luton moved out of the relegation zone with a 2-1 home win against injury-hit Charlton. After Jonathan Leko gave the visitors a seventh minute lead, goals from Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu (19) and Izzy Brown (53) turned things around.
Wigan dropped into the relegation zone despite a creditable 2-2 draw at Millwall. The visitors led twice courtesy of strikes from Anthony Pilkington and Antonee Robinson, but the Lions hit back with headed goals from skipper Shaun Hutchinson and substitute Matt Smith.