Express & Star

West Brom 4 Bristol City 2 - Report and pictures

Harvey Barnes sparkled for Albion as the Championship top scorers came out on top of a goalfest at The Hawthorns to move up to third.

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Dwight Gayle makes it 2-0 (AMA)

The Baggies blitzed Bristol City with three goals in 13 first-half minutes to take control of proceedings as they recorded their fifth straight victory at home in all competitions.

But they never looked comfortable at the back, and three goals in eight second-half minutes, including two for the visitors, made the game far more interesting than it should have been.

Jay Rodriguez scored his fifth and sixth goals of the season while Dwight Gayle added his fourth, but it was Barnes, who set up two and scored one himself, who further cemented himself as the darling of this team.

Goals from Bristol City's Lloyd Kelly and Famara Diedhiou put Albion under pressure in a nervy second half, but in the end, the league's in-form team were simply outscored.

Moore rewarded Gareth Barry for his impressive cameo against Birmingham City with his first league start of the season, and it proved to be the right decision with the veteran midfielder adding composure from the off.

Kieran Gibbs replaced Conor Townsend at left wing-back after recovering from illness and he too made an impact, particularly in the build-up to the second goal.

City boss Lee Johnson made three changes to his side, rewarding Callum O'Dowda and Marley Watkins with starts after the pair combined for their winner against Sheffield United on Saturday.

Matty Taylor was brought in up front alongside Andreas Weimann to harry and press Albion's back line.

And it was the visitors who started like a freight train, with O'Dowda testing Sam Johnstone in the opening 15 seconds after a quick move up the right flanks.

Before the Baggies had even caught their breath, Taylor brought another save from Johnstone.

It was a fast start, and Jay Rodriguez nearly pounced on a loose ball four minutes in but Niki Maenpaa raced off his line to thwart him.

But it was the Baggies keeper who was busiest early on, and Johnstone was called into action again soon after, tipping over Weimann's attempted lob after the Baggies back line failed to deal with a simple header forward.

Albion's back line looked jittery but ironically, it was two mistakes from the visitors' defence that gave the hosts the lead 16 minutes in.

Firstly, Jake Livermore robbed Lloyd Kelly of possession high up before crossing the ball into Rodriguez, whose first-time volley was saved.

But when the ball bounced out to Dwight Gayle, he was clipped in the box by a poor challenge from Adam Webster.

Rodriguez dispatched his spot-kick into the corner for the fourth time this season. All four penalties have been won by Gayle.

That goal gave Albion confidence, and skipper-for-the-day Craig Dawson nearly scored a header from a corner four minutes later but Maenpaa got down low and saved well.

But it wasn't long until they made it two with a clinical counter-attacking goal.

City had looked threatening but when Johnstone gathered a shot he had the presence of mind to roll it out quickly to Barnes.

The Leicester loanee sprinted forward at pace with the ball stuck his boot, and he held Watkins off for 30 yards before finding Gayle in space on the right.

Albion's striker gave Maenpaa the eyes before rolling the ball inside his near post for his fourth of the season.

Strangely though, the Robins were still enjoying plenty of the ball and Weimann flashed a shot inches wide of the far post before the Baggies made it three before the half-hour mark.

This time it was Gibbs's pinpoint pass that sent Barnes away down the left wing and he held off his man again before finding Rodriguez at the back post in acres of space.

The striker swept home his second of the night and his sixth of the season with ease.

The Robins did look dazed after that, and Barnes nearly got his own goal soon after, curling a long-range effort just wide when Gibbs was screaming for it on the overlap.

After the half he'd had, he could be forgiven that oversight, and in acknowledgment of his efforts, the first song over the tanoy at half-time was Joy Division's 'Love will tear us apart'.

Barnes was at it again after the break, driving at the heart of the Bristol back line on a breakaway, but this time Gayle put his shot over the bar from a promising position.

Bizarrely, considering it was 3-0, it felt like Albion needed another goal because their own net looked vulnerable.

Johnstone tipped over a dipping free-kick before mistiming his punch from the resulting corner, but fortunately Kyle Bartley was ready to head clear.

Lee Johnson made a double substitution ten minutes after the break and that sparked a spell of pressure for the visitors, who hit the post from a corner before pulling a goal back.

Niclas Eliasson was causing havoc with his crosses, and on the hour mark, one of them was turned in by Lloyd Kelly to reduce the deficit.

But three minutes later, Albion had restored their three-goal lead with a well-deserved goal for the man of the match.

Before the game, there were concerns about the Baggies back line losing possession but when Gayle robbed Jack Hunt of the ball in the final third, he pulled it back to Barnes.

The 20-year-old opened up his body and guided his shot into the top right corner.

That should have been that, but five minutes later the Baggies let their visitors back into the game and it was another one of Johnson's substitutes who made the difference.

This time Famara Diedhiou took advantage of too much time and space in the box to curl in a shot in off Johnstone's far post.

Moore reacted by sending Wes Hoolahan on for his debut in place of Gayle and Hal Robson-Kanu on for Rodriguez, but the Robins kept knocking on the door.

The visitors wanted a penalty with seven minutes to go when Weimann went down under Bartley's challenge in the box, but referee Jeremy Simpson said no.

That took the sting out of Johnson's men and, after Sam Field was brought on for his first league appearance of the season to the delight of the home crowd, the Baggies saw out the game.

Key moments

16 PENALTY ALBION - Gayle is tripped in the box by Webster and Rodriguez dispatches the penalty.

24 GOAL ALBION - Johnstone rolls the ball out to Barnes, who holds off Watkins before finding Gayle, and he fires past Maenpaa.

29 GOAL ALBION - Gibbs finds Barnes with a pinpoint pass before he holds off his man again and finds Rodriguez at the back post for a simple finish.

60 GOAL BRISTOL - Kelly turns in Eliasson's inswinging cross from the right hand side.

63 GOAL ALBION - Gayle robs Hunt of possession before pulling the ball back to Barnes, who guides it into the top corner.

68 GOAL BRISTOL - Diedhiou curls one into Johnson's far corner after being given time and space in the boz.

Man of the match

Harvey Barnes - Scored one, set up two, and was unplayable throughout.

Position in the table

3rd - with 14 points from 8 games.

Teams

Albion (3-4-1-2): Johnstone; Dawson (c), Hegazi, Bartley; Phillips, Barry (Field 86), Livermore, Gibbs; Barnes; Rodriguez (Robson-Kanu 80), Gayle (Hoolahan 74).

Unused subs: Myhill, Adarabioyo, Mears, Brunt.

Bristol City (4-4-2): Maenpaa; Hunt (Paterson 70), Kalas, Webster, Kelly; Watkins (Eliasson 57), Pack (c), Brownhill, O’Dowda; Weimann, Taylor (Diedhiou 57).

Unused subs: O'Leary, Baker, Walsh, Dasilva.

Referee: Jeremy Simpson

Attendance: 22,051 (1,824 away)