FIREMAN SAM’S A BIT TOO LATE
Baggies revival rolls on but time’s not on Allardyce’s side
SAM ALLARDYCE looks to have come up with the magic formula – trouble is it all looks a bit late to save West Brom.
The Premier League’s most revered firefighter is dousing the flames in spectacular fashion but the house looks to have burned down.
West Brom followed up one of the shock results of the season – the 5-2 destruction of Chelsea – with their biggest home win of the campaign.
It was the first time they have strung two wins together but you cannot help feeling they will need to get another five victories from seven to have a chance of escaping the drop.
Allardyce said: “We’re still fighting. I hope it gives my players hope because it was a fantastic win but it still might not be enough. We were brilliant at Chelsea and now another outstanding performance like this. Unfortunately for us, we’ve got to rely on other teams losing and just see how far we can get.”
They even managed to brush aside another controversial VAR decision which cost them a ‘goal’ after Stockley Park got their lines crossed, quite literally.
Mbaye Diagne was not offside but the VAR rulers could not ‘get a line’ on his upper body and so the on-field decision stood and Saints got away with one which left Allardyce groaning: “VAR was massively at fault. It was a goal – we’ve seen the angle and it was clearly a goal.”
There is just no stopping the Baggies, even when the visitors were awarded a stoppage-time penalty, keeper Sam Johnstone guessed right and beat away James Ward-prowse’s spot-kick.
What a first half it was and though Big Sam’s men went in 2-0 up at the break they could easily have had five as they ravaged limp Saints. Ralph
Hassenhuttl said: “It was a non performance. When you make it that easy it’s not a surprise to find yourselves 2-0 down.”
Albion could have been home and hosed by the break. Matheus Pereira should have done better with a header and Diagne steered a shot hopelessly wide of the post. How costly that might have proved when only Johnstone’s acrobatics kept out a Stuart Armstrong shot to keep things level.
But they took the lead on 32 minutes from a penalty after Fraser Forster sent Pereira crashing in the box.
Pereira rammed the kick down the middle and three minutes later they doubled their lead.
Danny Ings gave the ball straight to Diagne, who curled it across to the far post where Phillips slid in to rifle into the roof of the net.
It was left to Callum Robinson to finish the job with a cool leftfoot finish in the 69th minute.