West Brom cruise past Millwall to sail clear at the Championship summit
West Brom made light of Storm Ciara as they breezed past Millwall with a 2-0 win at the Den to move four points clear at the top of the Championship.
The on-loan Benfica midfielder Filip Krovinovic put the Baggies ahead in style before half-time before the 20year-old Dara O’Shea scored his first professional goal late on to seal victory for Slaven Bilic’s side.
Bilic urged Albion to use the win as a template for the rest of the season. After a seven-game winless run they have won two straight and are now comfortably clear at the summit again thanks to Leeds United’s poor run of form: they lost 2-0 at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Bilic believes that level of performance is the standard they must hit if they want to secure Premier League football next season. “When your side play like that it makes you proud. That performance has to be the standard going forward. We were better than them physically – we didn’t just match them – and from there our quality made the difference,” he said.
“Our guys showed spirit, character, effort and a willingness to win. We should have scored more goals, in the first half especially, but at this point the most important thing is the result.
“We were totally focused for 90 minutes. When you’re like that you’ve got a chance to win.
“People said this was Millwall weather today, that the conditions would suit them more.
“But we’re a team that fights, a team that gives everything. Millwall are always physical but they’re playing good football under Gary [Rowett]. We stopped them and neutralised them today through our work rate.
“This is a tough league and a lot of it is about momentum and confidence. The table matters but not that much: your last results, attitude and the way your team starts games is crucial. It’s demanding.
“The price is so big that it has to be tough. At the same time it’s enjoyable. The Championship has those elements of football that are a little bit lost now: the smell of the grass, the fans shouting at you from behind the benches.”
Millwall had won their previous three home league games – their best run in the Championship since 2011 – but Jed Wallace’s free-kick in the first minute of stoppage time was the only time they truly tested Sam Johnstone in the West Brom goal. The defeat leaves them five points off the play-offs and Rowett acknowledged they were outclassed by a superior side.
“A little bit of quality told today. When you play against sides like West
Brom and Leeds you find that their extra bit of zip and composure makes it difficult for you,” he said.
“I expected us to be more defensively resilient today. I can live with us not creating chances if we’re solid at the back; we didn’t do either today while West Brom delivered a very good performance.
“Their mentality in the conditions was fabulous. Given some of their play they could have been three or four up at half-time. There was a big gulf on the pitch today and a lot of it was down to our level of performance.”