BIG SAM GETS TASTE OF THE NEW NORMAL
VAR rubs salt into his wound
WEST BROM 0
ASTON VILLA 3
THERE was no Big Sam bounce as his struggling new West Brom side were seen off by their rivals from just down the road.
Sam Allardyce says he has missed his football fix in two- and- a- half years out of the hot seat but this defeat underlined things he would not have been relishing.
Two goals from Anwar El Ghazi and one from Bertrand Traore made for a comfortable win for Aston Villa.
Allardyce must have sloped off towards the tunnel at half- time seriously questioning what he has missed about Premier League management.
He saw his side fall behind after just five minutes and then witnessed two VAR decisions which will be widely debated.
There was no VAR when Allardyce managed his last game at Everton but he would have had to have spent his time out on Mars not to know the fuss that has been kicked up about it.
He needed his legendary powers to get a trick out of his men after they went in at the interval trailing to El Ghazi’s goal added to the fact that his side were down to 10 men after Jake Livermore was sent off.
The midfielder was shown a red card by referee Martin Atkinson in the 36th minute after the VAR felt he might have been guilty of serious foul play in his challenge on Jack Grealish.
He was airborne as he lunged in but he did appear to hook his foot around the ball before making any contact with the Villa man.
What made that an even bigger talking point was that just five minutes later Kortney Hause was shown only a yellow card for a crunching tackle on Grady Diangana.
It was hardly 45 minutes designed to put Allardyce’s new charges in the best of moods and things went wrong right from the off.
They were a goal down before they had had time to settle – El Ghazi sneaking in at the far post, taking full advantage of goalkeeper Sam Johnstone’s hesitation and volleying home Traore’s sweeping cross from close range. But the controversy had not finished.
Villa had a second goal ruled out by the VAR after Ollie Watkins was ruled offside by the narrowest of margins as he slid in unmarked at the far post to ram home a cross from Matty Cash.
But in the 84th minute inute Traore put the result sult beyond reasonable le doubt with a class s finish.
Four minutes later it t really was all over when Semi Ajayi sent nt Grealish tumbling in the box and El Ghazi ripped d the spot kick into the roof of the net.
WEST BROM ( 4- 1- 4- 1): Johnstone 6; Furlong 6, Ajayi 7, O’Shea 7, Gibbs 7; Sawyers 7; Phillips 7 ( Austin 77), Livermore 5, Gallagher 7, Diangana 6 ( Ivanovic 77); Grant 6 ( Robinson 83). Sent off: Livermore 36.
ASTON VILLA ( 4- 2- 3- 1): Martinez 7; Cash 7, Hause 7, Mings 7, Targett 7; McGinn 8, Douglas Luiz 8; Traore 8, Grealish 8, El Ghazi 8; Watkins 7. Goals: El Ghazi 5, 88 pen, Traore 84.