Southampton climb to second after Fraser and Brooks punish West Brom
Southampton moved back into the Championship’s automatic promotion places with an impressive 2-0 win at West Bromwich Albion. Ryan Fraser and David Brooks scored as Russell Martin’s side returned to second, a point ahead of Leeds, in the race for an instant return to the Premier League.
The visitors dominated for long spells and West Brom’s manager, Carlos Corberán, was sent off having kicked the ball while it was still in play. The hosts were, however, denied a penalty after a Jack Stephens handball as defeat halted a buoyant atmosphere at the Hawthorns given the presence of Florida-based Shilen Patel, who is poised to buy a 87.8% stake in West Brom’s parent company, with the takeover due to be rubber-stamped next week. The move will end the unhappy reign of Guochuan Lai and Patel was in the directors’ box to watch the hosts slip to a third home league defeat of the season. They remain fifth.
Southampton lost their club record 25-game unbeaten run with Tuesday’s 3-1 defeat at Bristol City and came out with a point to prove. Kyle Walker-Peters came close with a longrange strike shortly before Corberán’s dismissal on seven minutes. Soon after, Alex Palmer smothered Adam Armstrong’s shot after his poor initial clearance allowed the striker a chance.
It only delayed the inevitable, though, as Southampton opened the scoring after 14 minutes. Fraser’s shot deflected wide and from the resulting corner the on-loan Newcastle winger struck; Shea Charles played it short to Stuart Armstrong and his deep cross picked out Fraser, with his fine cushioned volley finding the corner.
That goal gave Southampton the platform to dominate but they failed to extend their lead in the first half. Adam Armstrong shot wide, which allowed the hosts to regain their composure and threaten before the break. Concerted pressure ended with John Swift driving wide from 25 yards and West Brom were furious in stoppage time when Conor Townsend’s effort struck Stephens’ arm in the box, only for the referee to wave away their protests.
West Brom tried to use that sense of injustice in the second half but, while they battled on, they struggled to make a serious impact. A Swift freekick dropped over the crossbar and it was Southampton who wrapped up the points with 17 minutes left.
The impressive substitute Joe Aribo started a sharp move when he found Stuart Armstrong to pop the ball into Samuel Edozie. He slipped in Brooks 10 yards out and the Bournemouth loanee spun away to drill past Palmer.
“It’s our best win of the season,” said Russell. “After Tuesday the questions were asked, people were looking to see how the team responded and they were amazing. It’s a big moment for us.”