Sawyers sent off but West Brom still seal the win
West Bromwich Albion defied a sending off to strengthen their grip on automatic promotion with a convincing victory at Ashton Gate.
Hal Robson-Kanu scored a brace and Sheffield United loanee Callum Robinson grabbed his second goal for the club in fortunate fashion to stretch West Brom’s unbeaten run to five games.
Slaven Bilic’s men had Romaine Sawyers dismissed in the final quarter of an hour after grabbing Bristol substitute Jamie Paterson by the throat, but it still could not deny the visitors.
After conceding a stoppage-time equaliser against Nottingham Forest last time out, this was exactly the response Bilic would have hoped for from the league leaders.
“That performance ranks quite high in terms of our season considering the strength of our opponent,” Bilic said.
“We knew we would need a complete game to get anything out of this match and that is what we produced. We did it with style, we were quite comfortable, and we limited Bristol to one chance.
“The players look hungry, sharp and competitive. They are all pushing each other. We train hard and are confident.”
Both sides struggled to adapt to the blustery conditions and it took 22 minutes for the first shot of the afternoon to arrive through Matheus Pereira. West Brom’s Sporting Lisbon loanee found space in the penalty area and fired a fierce volley at goal. Jack Hunt, however, threw himself in the way to block the effort which looked destined for the back of the net.
It was another loanee in Robinson, against his former club and with luck on his side, who put the league leaders ahead. After he was put through on goal by Robson-Kanu, Robinson saw his effort denied by Daniel Bentley before the ball deflected off the winger’s face and rolled into the empty net.
The goal helped West Brom get into their groove and Jake Livermore enjoyed three efforts at goal within two minutes. The latter led to the second goal. The home side gave away possession as they looked to forge a counter-attack and Livermore’s low drive was spilt by Bentley into the path of Robson-Kanu. The striker tapped home from close range.
Robson-Kanu had the opportunity to put the tie to bed on the hour when he raced through on goal only to fire wide after being pressurised by defender Filip Benkovic, who recovered well for the hosts. Livermore and Robinson also enjoyed the Baggies.
Jay Dasilva supplied the home side’s best opportunity with 17 minutes remaining after his curling delivery found an unmarked Nahki Wells in the penalty area. The Bermuda international timed his run well, but struck wide of the post with an effort he should really have done better with.
West Brom were then reduced to 10 men following an altercation between Sawyers and Paterson with referee Darren England brandishing a red card to the former Brentford man. It caused unsavoury scenes to break out between the two benches.
Bilic added: “Their player helped because he didn’t react in a crazy way. He grabbed him, but for me it’s not a red card. Now he will be out for three or four games. It’s ridiculous.”
Bilic’s men responded to the setback by adding their third through RobsonKanu. The Welshman pounced on a defensive error from his fellow international Ashley Williams and dispatched the ball beyond Bentley into the far corner. It took his tally for the season to nine.
It marked the end of a difficult week for home manager Lee Johnson, whose squad had been struck by illness with only 12 players available to train on Tuesday, but he said: “My complaints are against my own side and individual errors. There were too many and I think we sometimes lack physicality against the top teams.
“There were key moments where we could have got back into the game, but we didn’t go for them.”