West Bromwich Albion 1 - Wigan Athletic 0

Date:	Tuesday 7th March 2023
Competition:	Sky Bet Championship
WBA: 5.2	(4-2-3-1) Griffiths 7.0, Furlong 4.5, O'Shea 5.5, Pieters 5.5 (Ajayi, 71 5.7), Townsend 5.8, Yokuslu 6.7, Molumby 5.3 (Chalobah, 57 4.0), Wallace 5.6, Swift 5.8 (Gardner-Hickman, 85 5.1), Albrighton 4.1 (Reach, 71 4.3), Dike 6.5 Unused subs: Button, Malcolm, Faal Manager: Carlos Corberán 5.1
Wigan: 3.8	(3-4-2-1) Amos, Hughes, Rekik, Nyambe (Bennett, 45), Darikwa, Power, Tiéhi (Aasgaard, 45), McClean (Pearce, 88), Keane (Magennis, 66), Sinani, Fletcher Unused subs: Jones, Naylor, Caulker
Scorers:	Dike (27)
Referee:	Rebecca Welch 3.3
Attendance:	21,552 Home Fans 5.1 Away Fans 3.9

Brendan Clegg:

The less said about this one the better - take the points and move on.

It was a freezing night, the crowd was pretty muted, the team picked itself and mostly played like everyone was guaranteed a start and also didn’t want to get injured, and Wigan played like they wanted a draw and weren’t very good. Added to that we had a couple of officials who were really poor and didn’t give Dike any protection.

It led to a pretty awful spectacle in which we started slowly, didn’t play with high energy or tempo, lacked quality but because Wigan were so poor, still managed to miss many opportunities, hit the woodwork at least 4 times but thankfully converted one chance which was enough to win it.

Our goal came from maybe our second decent move of the night - the first being when Molumby missed a sitter.

It was the kind of goal we concede when Button plays- routine save ballooned up, hit the top of the bar and dropped for Dike to nod in from a couple of yards. We’ve seen him miss those.

If we were dull before we went into ultra-conservative mode after that and managed the half out with the only other highlight I recall being Dike showing good skill and power to volley goalwards and their unconvincing keeper saved it then pushed it onto the post and nearly let it creep over the line.

The second half was worse. We got a lot of subs on despite it only being one goal, couldn’t look after the ball, allowed Wigan to gain momentum and pressure but still missed some big chances - either failing to shoot when it opened up, Wallace and Swift both should’ve scored but hit the post/bar and we seemed determined not to cross the ball when we got wide. We’d just come back, work it across the pitch, go back again and then give it to Griffiths to punt.

Thankfully Wigan just weren’t good enough but they did create one chance late on that Griffiths saved well. I don’t think we’d have got away with playing this badly against anyone else but let’s be glad of the points and forget this ever happened!

Griffiths - 6 Solid game and important save.
Furlong - 5 Just about enough but some poor passing.
Pieters - 6 Adequate and calm.
O’Shea - 6 Better than against Hull.
Townsend - 6.5 Thought he was one of the few who performed okay. Solid and tried to use the ball.
Yokuslu - 6.5 Did his job well but has few options.
Molumby - 6 usual energy but either cautious or wasteful in the final 3rd. Imagine he was subbed early to avoid a yellow.
Wallace - 5 Careless with the ball and unambitious despite some good runs.
Swift - 5 We didn’t find him enough and he didn’t look for it enough.
Albrighton - 4 Can’t think of anything he did and slow.
Dike - 6.5 was at least a handful, scored and looked to have more fight and belief after the goal.

Of the subs I thought only Semi did a decent job. The others were ineffective but not helped by the tinkering of system and positions.

Baggyjon:

As bomber Brown commented 3 points is 3 points however you get them.

In truth last nights performance was on a par with the defeat at Hull with even less chances created against a pretty woeful Wigan who even so could have snatched a point at the end.

The lack of depth in quality in the squad was again outlined. I just have the feeling that corboran realises the fact and has told them to play to their strengths; retain possession and if in doubt go sideways or backwards. Almost Pulis like.

Once again Albrighton and Chalobah didn't turn up. What is the point of Reach. The referee gave Dike no protection and was awful throughout. Swift flatters to deceive but unlucky hitting woodwork in last 2 games. Mulumby would be great if he could pass a ball...

A uniformity of mediocrity pervades the squad. Not a night to encourage anyone that the play offs are a possibility.