EARN A SHARE
Thomas rues ‘clear penalty’ as Baggies slide towards a blip
it was blatant and honest Bilic admitted: “I’ve seen them given. If I was him (the Brentford manager) I would say the same.”
Brentford were the better team in the first half and held out firmly when the Baggies upped the pace later.
With Leeds United losing, Albion are three points clear at the top with a 12 point gap between them and Fulham in third.
It’s still looking like a happy automatic promotion new year with West Brom unbeaten in 13 games.
But in their past three performances, Albion have not been as powerfully impressive as what went before.
Brentford should have been in front much earlier than the 43rd minute.
But having got the lead, they then gave it away.
The Bees buzzed around Albion, but couldn’t find any sting until they put away a pretty orthodox corner. Mathias Jensen took it and captain Henrik Dalsgaard was free when he got his head to the ball for his first goal of the season.
Where one right-back succeeded another did as Darnell Furlong connected with Matt Phillips’ corner in exactly the same way as Dalsgaard had in first-half added-time.
“I’m extremely proud of the players, the way we approached this game, the big personality we showed,” said Frank.
“I haven’t seen all the games at The Hawthorns, but I’m pretty sure there has not been a team that good in the first half this season.
“That was a clear penalty. It was at a crucial time because if we get the penalty and lead 2-0, I’m not saying game over, but it’s better than them going down and equalising.”