West Bromwich Albion 2 - Coventry City 0

Date:	Wednesday 11th December 2024
Competition:	Sky Bet Championship
WBA: 6.8	(4-4-2) Palmer 7.4, Furlong 5.9, Holgate 6.6, Heggem 7.2, Styles 6.4 (Bartley, 71 5.8), Fellows 6.6 (Wallace, 71 6.4), Molumby 6.6 (Racic, 86 5.7), Mowatt 6.9, Johnston 6.4 (Dobbin, 71 5.3), Grant 8.6, Maja 4.9 (Swift, 46 6.4) Unused subs: Wildsmith, Diakité, Frabotta, Cole Manager: Carlos Corberán 6.5
Coventry: 5.5	(4-2-3-1) Collins, van Ewijk, Thomas, Latibeaudiere, Bidwell, Eccles (Torp, 62), Sheaf, Sakamoto (Simms, 77), Rudoni, Mason-Clark (Thomas-Asante, 62), Bassette Unused subs: Dovin, Binks, Dasilva, Allen, Kitching, Tavares
Scorers:	Mowatt (11), Grant (73)
Referee:	John Busby 6.2
Attendance:	24,859 Home Fans 6.9 Away Fans 6.4

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Ratings submitted so far: 16

Brendan Clegg:

Very quick thoughts…

Lineup was okay and understandable with Bart’s given a rest, otherwise probably our strongest side.

The truth is we were okay and battled but after a bright start and a deserved lead it was all very difficult. We looked leggy, like our feet were too cold and Maja looked miles off it for whatever reason - he chased stuff but his touch and retention were way below his normal standards.

Thankfully for us, Coventry looked like a team confused by what they were trying to do and despite the quality of some individuals were frankly a bit rubbish and, gratefully, very sloppy in front of goal.

The subs were probably the right ones to make both at HT and on 70 as it was all going a bit Preston away, and I’d say Grant scored his best individual goal ever for us to wrap it up. Great desire from him, very timid defending from them.

We’ve played miles better than this and only got a point, so we’ll take it. Hopefully it helps with the drawing hoodoo and we were at least shooting on sight of goal.

Palmer - 7 Some big saves when we needed him
Furlong - 5 I thought he struggled on the ball and was easy to go past too
Holgate - 6 Stood up to then but got rolled once or twice
Heggem - 7 Solid and reliable
Styles - 6 Another near showing but got caught way out of position a few times
Fellows - 6 Had a go, we struggled with supply
Mowatt - 6 Got about and rewarded with a goal
Molumby - 6 Usual effort and fight
MJ - 6 Did okay but some horrendous shooting again
Maja - 4 The effort was there but as bad as I can ever recall. Hopefully just rest needed
Grant - 7 Again just ran, fought, took responsibility, was brave and from his perspective it was a top goal.

Swift - 7 Thought he used it very sensibly
Wallace - 6 Effort and safe on the ball
Dobbin - 6 Did his job
Racic & Bartley both dropped in and looked solid.

Kev Buckley:

Belated report of a win might ease the pain of a more recent loss

Only recently realised that I was able to see an as-live replay of the Coventry game, when finding out that I couldn't see the loss to Watford, so here goes!

On another evening, this could easily have been yet another draw, but Albion benefitted from a Coventry side that failed to make the most of the opportunities they created to run out 2-0 winners.

Heggem lost the flight of a ball over the top, within the first couple of minutes, but then managed to recover as the attacker dallied, whilst a couple of minutes later, Fellows would get in behind, only for Johnston to blaze the pull-back over.

By the tenth minute, Fellows would have had another run and cross that led to a corner before having a shot blocked that fell to Mowatt at the top of the box: the latter's shot taking a massive deflection that left the keeper diving away from the ball as it crossed the line.

Around the half-hour, Grant had a rumble up the middle from inside his own half but never really looked like threatening to get a shot off, and, as the half drew to a close, Palmer had to read a little ball over the top well, in order to block at his left post.

Swift replaced Maja as the second half started but the first real action came as Fellows, defending the near post at a corner, only managed to flick it on across the six-yard box, but with no Coventry striker able to benefit.

As the hour passed, BTA came on for the visitors and looked lively, albeit from wide areas.

Coventry managed to butcher a great chance on 63, as a lovely cross reached two unmarked players on the edge of our 6-yard-box, however a header on the stretch by the first prevented the better placed second from effecting a simple tap-in.

Palmer then had to be alert to save a header at the back post, before a triple substitution was made with twenty to go: Bartley, Wallace and Dobbin replacing Styles, Fellows and Johnston.

Whether it was the withdrawal of his two main suppliers that saw Grant decide to do it all himself, we'll never know, but three minutes after those subs, he picked a ball in the inside-left channel and dribbled inside across the edge of the box, creating enough space, around the edge of the central defenders, to get space to let off a shot back across his run and inside the left post.

The, by now, obligatory defensive-centre-mid swap saw Racic replace Molumby, the former getting a clear sight of goal within stoppage time, but failing to hit the target, as had Coventry, with their last good chance of the game, in heading over from a corner with three to go in normal time.

Tempted to say, on the back of doing so in the previous game, that we'll play better and only draw, in which case we'll certainly take this win: not least as we lost the one after it.