Southampton win at last and add to Albion’s sorrows on day of tribute to Cyrille Regis
On a raw, emotion-filled afternoon, West Bromwich honoured the late, great Cyrille Regis with pride and passion, but could not summon the power or poise to avoid a costly defeat against fellow strugglers Southampton.
Given the perfect start by Ahmed Hegazi’s early opener, Albion remain at the foot of the table after subsiding against a Southampton side able to celebrate their first league win since a 4-1 beating of Everton in November.
While he will not be fortunate enough to face sides as weak as Albion every week, this was a significant win for Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino, who had endured travelling supporters calling for his sacking before his side’s dramatic turnaround.
Southampton stunned their hosts with two strikes, a stunning effort from Mario Lemina and an artful header by Jack Stephens just before the interval. They added a third early in the second half, though it was not without a moment of self-induced controversy. Sofiane Boufel wanted to take a free-kick and had to be led away by team-mates before James Ward-Prose drove the ball past goalkeeper Ben Foster. Salomon Rondon headed Albion back into the game 18 minutes from the end, but Southampton held firm for a deserved victory that carried them from the bottom three to 14th in the table.
It also ended a morale-sapping run of 12 league matches without a win and Pellegrino said: “It is really important for us. The three points were important but in one week everything can change. We have a lot of things to do still, a lot of things to improve.” Pellegrino also had words of advice for free-kick aspirant Boufel. “It is part of the ambition of a player to want to do more but we have to learn also. They are all young but we must do what is best for the team,” he said. Albion supporters had packed the stadium early to hear heartfelt tributes to their former striker, who died last month. The great and good of West Bromwich’s footballing heritage queued to pay their respects, setting the scene for a one-minute’s standing applause before kick-off. Thus inspired, Albion took the lead in the fourth minute. Matt Phillips won a corner, flighted in by Chris Brunt for central defender Hegazi to arrive unattended and head beyond goalkeeper Alex McCarthy. “Cyrille Regis, that goal’s for you,” sang the Albion crowd. Southampton were de- servedly level five minutes before the break, Lemina delivering the perfect, rising strike from 20 yards that left Foster helpless. There was a further shock for Albion three minutes later, Stephens sending a header from WardProwse’s corner arcing over Foster.
Southampton took just 10 minutes of the second half to establish a firm grip on the points. Wesley Hoedt’s run was cut short by Gareth Barry’s foul just outside the home penalty area. Boufal was upset not to be handed free-kick duties, but he could have had few complaints as Ward-Prowse bent it round the defensive wall to beat Foster.
All over? Not quite. Rondon rose to head home 18 minutes from the end and Albion saw fresh hope but they had left themselves too much to do.
Albion are now four points adrift at the foot of the table with just one win in 12 matches under Alan Pardew.
The arrival from Liverpool on loan of Daniel Sturridge, who showed promising glimpses in the first half, should give Albion more firepower but there are problems throughout Pardew’s fragile team. The West Bromwich manager said: “That 20 minutes before half-time was where we lost the game. They got two quick goals at a good time for them and it hurt us.”
West Bromwich Albion (4-4-2) Foster 5; Dawson 5, McAuley 5, Hegazi 5, Nyom 5 (McClean 77); Phillips 5, Barry 4, Yacob 5 (Burke 62), Brunt 6; Sturridge 5 (Rodriguez 62), Rondon 6. Subs Myhill (g), Field, Harper, Jameson. Booked Barry, Phillips. Southampton (4-2-3-1) McCarthy 6; Soares 6, Stephens 7, Hoedt 7, Bertrand 6; Romeu 7, Lemina 7; Ward-Prowse 8, Tadic 6 (Redmond 88), Boufal 6 (Hojbjerg 85); Carrillo 6 (Long 75). Subs Forster (g), Yoshida, Davis, Gabbiadini. Booked Bertrand. Referee Michael Oliver (Northumberland).