Express & Star

West Brom 0 Stoke 1 - Report and pictures

Albion's winless run in the Championship now stands at six games after they were beaten at home by Stoke.

Published
Joe Allen of Stoke City and Kenneth Zohore of West Bromwich Albion. (AMA)

A solitary goal from Tyrese Campbell was enough to see the Potters to victory on what was a hugely disappointing night for Slaven Bilic's side.

Stoke arrived at The Hawthorns determined to sit deep and frustrate the home side.

And they did it from the first whistle to the last with the Baggies creating very little in front of goal.

Their cause wasn't helped when Grady Diangana hobbled off after just four minutes.

A catalogue of errors then saw Albion gift Stoke the lead just moments later.

And from that point the visitors dug in with Bilic's men lacking the quality and invention needed to break them down.

Report

Albion received a boost before kick-off with Slaven Bilic able to name Grady Diangana in his starting XI for the first time since the win at Blues on December 14.

The winger, who had been on the bench at Charlton, picked up a back injury in the win over Pep Clotet's side - with that knock coinciding with the Baggies' winless run.

Somewhat surprisingly, Bilic also made a change at centre-back with Ahmed Hegazi coming in at the expense of Semi Ajayi who was named as a substitute for the first time this season.

It meant Albion continued in their 4-2-3-1 formation with Diangana on the left flank, Matt Phillips on the right and Matheus Pereira operating behind Hal Robson-Kanu in the number 10 role.

Stoke, under the guidance of Michael O'Neill, lined up in the same system and included former Baggie James McClean in their starting line-up.

He started on the left wing with Tom Ince on the right, Nick Powell in the 10 role and Campbell up top.

For all the positivity surrounding Diangana's return, the West Ham loanee pulling up after just three minutes having seemingly suffered a recurrence of his back injury.

Unable to continue, he was replaced by Kenneth Zohore who took up the lone striker role with Robson-Kanu dropping in behind and Pereira moving out to the left.

Despite the set-back, Albion almost opened the scoring a few minutes later when good work from Phillips saw the ball worked to Darnell Furlong in the box.

He then crossed for Pereira - but from eight-yards the Brazilian scuffed a shot wide when he should have done better.

Stoke's game plan was clear with O'Neill's side content to sit back, soak up pressure and let Albion have the ball in areas where they didn't think they could hurt them.

But in the ninth minute, they were gifted the lead following a catalogue of errors which started when Jake Livermore passed the ball straight to Powell in the middle of the park.

The former Manchester United man then lifted the ball over the defence with Conor Townsend out of position.

Hegazi tried to clear but only succeeded in knocking the ball against Ince who then crossed for an unmarked Campbell to tap in.

Diangana's injury had seemingly rocked Albion with Bilic's side struggling to find any rhythm.

They did threaten when a spell of pinball ended with Pereira nodding the ball into the arms of Jack Burland just yards from goal.

Overall, though, there was a growing sense of frustration both in the stands and on the pitch - with that boiling over when Pereira appeared to swing an elbow towards Joe Allen.

While the contact was minimal the intent looked to be there - with the Brazilian hugely fortunate to receive a lecture from referee Tim Robinson instead of a red card.

Albion continued to huff and puff as they went in search of an equaliser before half-time.

Phillips saw a fizzing effort from 25-yard fly narrowly over. Pereira then curled a free-kick narrowly wide from the edge of the box.

Overall, though, Stoke had got through the opening 45 minutes having stifled Bilic's side - with every player in O'Neill's side sticking to the task of keeping the hosts at bay.

The Baggies immediately started playing with more urgency following the re-start.

Furlong connected with a low corner only to see his effort saved by Butland. Zohore then headed a Robson-Kanu cross wide.

It was now all Albion with Stoke struggling to get out of their own half.

But Bilic's men survived a scare on the hour-mark when Townsend's loose pass was intercepted by Allen.

He charged at goal before finding Gregory in the box. But the striker then fired when, at the very least, he should have forced Sam Johnstone into a save.

Despite dominating the ball, Albion were still struggling to create clear-cut chances.

So with 15 minutes to go, Bilic made a double change with Chris Brunt and Charlie Austin replacing Townsend and Robson-Kanu.

But the momentum Albion had at the start of the half had all but disappeared with Stoke digging in to constantly keep the hosts at bay.

The Baggies forced a couple of corners, while the Potters survived a few goal-mouth scrambles.

Overall, though, Bilic's side had been devoid of ideas with the visitor's work rate and organisation ensuring they deserved to leave The Hawthorns with a clean sheet.

Teams

Albion (4-2-3-1): Johnstone, Furlong, Hegazi, Bartley, Townsend (Brunt 75), Livermore, Sawyers, Phillips, Pereira, Diangana (Zohore 4), Robson-Kanu (Austin 75).

Subs not used: Bond, Ajayi, Krovinovic, Austin.

Stoke (4-2-3-1): Butland, Smith, Batth, Lindsay, Martins-Indi, Allen, Clucas, Ince (Collins 86), Powell (Cousins 72), McClean, Campbell (Gregory 25).

Subs not used: Davies, Vokes, Ngoy, Thompson.

Referee: Tim Robinson

Attendance: 23,199