Manchester City 1 - West Bromwich Albion 1

Date:	Tuesday 15th December 2020
Competition:	Premier League
Man City: 5.8
WBA: 7.8	Johnstone 9.1, Furlong 7.4, Ajayi 8.7, O'Shea 7.9, Gibbs 7.2, Sawyers 6.3, Phillips 7.0 (Peltier, 87 5.4), Livermore 6.7 (Krovinovic, 80 5.8), Gallagher 7.5, Diangana 6.8, Grant 4.4 (Austin, 70 5.9) Unused subs: Button, Robinson, Grosicki, Ivanovic Manager: Slaven Bilic 8.3
Referee:	Peter Bankes 6.2
Attendance:	0

Brendan Clegg:

Should we be a bit angry that after finally going with a system the suits the squad of players we have and a performance of maximum effort, grit, determination and most importantly organisation that we got such a brilliant result? Bitter at the number of games we’ve wasted before doing it?

Maybe but tonight I’m just going to enjoy it and I hope the players and coaches are absolutely buzzing on that bus home tonight. They earned it.

I thought the lineup was as good as could be apart from Grant AGAIN getting picked over Robinson. Really can’t see why.

The game went as you’d expect but our shape was so much better, no obvious gaps or holes for them to exploit and our two wingers putting in selfless shifts for the cause and never switching off.

This team will always create chances and Grant should’ve taken our best one but scuffed it weakly.

The only time we switched off, and I think it was Sawyers who got a bit caught between 2 men, City scored but I was still happy with the half and when Semi’s hook was deflected in it proved that if we’re solid enough in games we’ll have a good chance.

Second half was tougher and I thought we were lucky to get to 70 mins without conceding because of some tired legs but we managed to frustrate and break out enough a few times to ease pressure.

I thought the subs were a bit ropey - Austin over Robinson was daft even though he put a shift in, it invited pressure and he got in the way more than anything as well as not having enough to run up the pitch when we got rare sniffs of a counter. Krovi and Peltier were understandable given the timings but they weakened us - SJ saving the points right at the death.

I thought Bilic was done but if we play this way every week and get Pereira and Robinson into the team he’ll undoubtedly get results. We’re not miles off being decent and although we’ll probably still go down it’ll be with the honesty that we did our best.

SJ - 8 Happy to be proved wrong here. Has improved all aspects of his game quickly and is braver off his line.
Furlong - 7 Stuck to his job.
Ajayi- 9 No Albion fan will be surprised by that. Immense.
O’Shea - 8 Delighted for the kid. Improving fast and is an absolute warrior.
Gibbs - 7 Read so many things well and that touch of class on the ball.
Sawyers - 7 One lapse and looser as he tired but I’ve never seen him work so hard and that nod back into the box for Semi’s goal instead of letting it bounce shows he’s learning.
Gallagher- 7 Very harsh booking took away from him but high quality again.
Livermore- 6 Looked shagged but we’ve missed that muscle.
Diangana - 7 Never seem him do so much defensively. Still managed to get the tricks out.
Phillips- 8 A real performance of know-how in this league. Big shift. Clever fouls. Attacked when he could.
Grant - 3 Ran about but lacked composure, decision making and fluffed his chance.

Austin - 5 Put himself about.
Krovi - 5 Ran about and win a good foul to run the clock down.

Baggyjon:

It is ironic and typical Albion that after getting the best away result since beating Man Utd in April 2018 the powers that be wish to give Slaven Bilic his P45.

I can understand why to a point.The record in 2020 has not been impressive and his insistence on retaining the likes of Krovinivic and Diagana plus the pursuit of underperforming Grant only restablishing the level of the side to good championship standard will probably be his nemesis. To be fair some team selections and the insistence of playing an expansive game when short of quality and pace has not helped.

However the total lack of funds from the owner and sale of Hegazi have not helped his cause.

Having said all that I like the man and his personality .In my view I would give him till after the FA Cup and if we see an improvement then build a team to win the Championship next season. I still feel we are favourites for relegation. I really don't see anyone better at the moment and if they appoint dinosaur Alladyce then the lunatics have really taken over the asylum.