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Middlesbrough, Liverpool, Chelsea and West Ham are games we’ve come away from and wondered how we didn’t win and Tony Mowbray and his team will go down the M6 doing the same tonight.
Latics, even after a pretty good opening 15 minutes, were on the whole just not at the races today. West Brom weathered the early storm and then played quite a lot of good football, dominating large parts of the game.
To be fair it didn’t look like either team were going to find a goal, but just after the restart Miller got a gift from Titus Bramble and made it 1-0.
Latics did equalise after a defensive muck up at the other end, Henri Camara turning in the fumble. Boycey sealed the win form a corner with just three minutes remaining.
The first half started off with West Brom having the first chance, Miller timed his run to stay on side but was a yard away from converting Morrison’s cross. After this Latics took control and had a couple of chances that ended in corners. The second corner saw the ball land at Camara’s feet , but the Senegalese International blazed the ball over the bar from just 3 yards out.
The next chance fell to Figueroa after good work and a lay off from Camara, but his shot was heroically charged down by the Baggies defence. The rest of the half was a very scrappy affair with neither team keeping too much possession. The chances were few and far between as although we were finding some good room, the passing was abysmal.
Things could have changed after Meite hand balled outside of the area just before half time. Ryan Taylor shaped himself up for the free kick and Scott Carson had to be at his best to save the shot low to his left.
The second half started off disastrously for Latics as another Titus Bramble muck up gifted Ishmael Miller a goal on 47 minutes. The ball bounced up and Titus just didn’t deal with and the momentum carried the ball through to the Baggies striker. He darted into the box and smartly slotted the ball past the helpless Kirkland.
Five minutes later Kirkland was called upon again as he saved from a Morrison drive, this should have got the alarm bells ringing for Latics but the only chance they mustered in the first 15 minutes was another Taylor free kick after Plaacios was fouled on the edge of the area.
The young right back went agonisingly close to equalising, but the ball just went the wrong side of the post. West Brom kept hold of the ball well then until it was their turn to gift us a goal after Heskey tried to play in Camara. Robinson fluffed his header back the keeper and Camara acrobatically blasted the ball into the Baggies goal
It was totally against the run of play, but after the bad luck we’ve had recently, it was about time something should go our way. Kirkland had to be at his best again as he saved a rocket header in the area from Olsson and from a goal bound shot from Jonathan Greening.
The sting came just 3 minutes from time and for once it wasn’t a goal against us. Emmerson Boyce rose to spank in a header from a Koumas corner, his first for nearly two years. It was cruel, but at the end of the day we’ll take it and move on. The final whistle went and although it was a win for us, it will give Bruce a few new nightmares.
This sealed off Bruce’s first league back to back wins and shakes of our hoodoo of not being able to win from behind. Steve Bruce will go into the SELL OUT fans forum on Thursday with 19 points in the bag, just short of his first anniversary.
Report by Jason Taylor
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Ishmael Miller
Ishmael Miller
Michael Brown
Jason Koumas
