West Bromwich Albion 3 - Southampton 0

Date:	Monday 12th April 2021
Competition:	Premier League
WBA: 8.2	Johnstone 8.1, Furlong 8.0, O'Shea 7.9, Bartley 8.0 (Ajayi, 85 6.4), Townsend 7.7, Phillips 7.7, Yokuslu 7.7, Maitland-Niles 8.2, Pereira 8.2, Robinson 8.0 (Gallagher, 72 6.5), Diagne 7.5 (Robson-Kanu, 75 5.9) Unused subs: Button, Gibbs, Livermore, Diangana, Peltier, Grant Manager: Sam Allardyce 7.6
Southampton: 4.5	Forster, Walker-Peters (Djenepo, 87), Bednarek, Vestergaard, Bertrand, Armstrong, Ward-Prowse, Diallo, Ings (Tella, 87), Walcott (Adams, 76), Redmond Unused subs: McCarthy, Stephens, Minamino, Salisu, Ferry, Jankewitz
Scorers:	Pereira (31 pen), Phillips (35), Robinson (69)
Referee:	Simon Hooper 6.0
Attendance:	0

Brendan Clegg:

Another very good performance and thoroughly deserved win.

Allardyce made the big and correct calls to start Robinson and O’Shea in a 4-2-3-1 and I thought he was rewarded with a blistering opening where we played some sensational stuff in the first 20 mins but we’re denied a goal due to another inexplicable VAR interpretation seemingly penalising Bartley for not interfering with play but possibly for another reason. Who knows but it’s a total mess and I think might’ve seen mass walkouts this season had we been able to attend.

After not making the most of our chances and being a bit too open and perhaps fortunate, a great move saw Pereira win a penalty and the slam it home after being felled by the keeper.

Was there even a booking for the foul? Why did Forster not get a red? How could Ajayi get a red against Burnley by comparison? Hypothetically if Pereira had beaten Forster without being fouled and seen a goal line clearance with an arm that would’ve resulted in a red - is this situation any different? I haven’t got a clue anymore.

As against Chelsea we hit a quick fire second with Diagne playing in the rejuvenated Phillips with a delicious pass and him sliding it home.

I thought the period after our second through to Robinson’s fantastically taken 3rd we were quite poor - careless with the ball and Southampton dominated but that 3rd ended the game and but for some sloppy defending to gift them a penalty at the death, brilliantly saved by SJ, we were comfortable.

We looked great again, a joy to watch and it’s such a shame we’ll run out of games because we’re looking and playing like a top 10 side.

SJ - 7 Earned his clean sheet.
Furlong- 7 Another solid performance.
Bartley - 8 Didn’t put a foot wrong.
O’Shea - 8 Brave and a great clean sheet. Passing was decent too.
Townsend - 6 Didn’t get it all his own way but great energy.
AMN - 8 Best game for us, everywhere on the pitch and those thrusts of pace were essential.
Yokusulu - 8 Fabulous again although had a rough 5 mins 2nd half.
Phillips - 8 Very high level again and deserved a goal.
Pereira - 7 Caused them loads of problems
Robinson - 7 Brilliant like Pereira but they both got sloppy 2nd half. Great goal.
Diagne - 8 Didn’t give them a minute.

Subs - 6 Did a job but weakened us.

It’ll be a real shame to break this team up but it’s inevitable so just enjoy it; the best Albion side since Steve Clarke’s first season and, actually and therefore, one of the best in my 30 years as a fan.