Roberto Di Matteo was full of praise for his side after watching his Baggies outfit hit five against Middlesbrough – the club’s biggest away win for 37 years.
Before kick-off the two sides were separated by a solitary point and place in the division. However, a brace from Chris Brunt and goals from Youssouf Mulumbu, Roman Bednar and Jerome Thomas’ first for the club blew Albion’s nearest league rivals away at The Riverside Stadium.
Prior to last season Albion had only won once in 56 years on Teeside but double that figure in emphatic fashion. The victory extended Albion’s unbeaten start to the season in all competitions and cemented their position at the top of the table.
"Today was as good as it gets - it was a perfect performance," beamed an ecstatic Di Matteo.
"You'd never dream of getting five goals at Boro.
"It was a fantastic day for the club.
"With the first goal we had a little bit of luck, but after that we never looked back.
"You usually can only dream of coming to Boro in the big game of the week and being 3-0 up at half-time.
"It was a bit surprising, but I think we did well to get there.
"We did even better in the second half not to concede a goal, which would have let them back into the game.
"The other two goals were a bonus, really.
"We fully deserved the win.
"It's certainly one of the best performances so far and obviously the result is a consequence of the performance.
"We're capable of playing well and we managed to sustain it over 90 minutes today.
"We have a very good group of players.
"They put a lot of effort in today and that showed in the scoreline.
"This certainly puts a statement out there for the rest of the league."
Despite the emphatic victory and perfect performance, Di Matteo claims there’s still more to come from his new-look Albion side with injured stars waiting in the wings for their opportunity when fit.
“It is great for us that we are in this position but there is much more to come,” Robby continued.
"We still have players like Ishmael Miller, James Morrison and Gonzalo Jara missing.
"I think our team will get stronger as we go along.
"I'm pleased for the players today.
"They showed great character and composure.
"But we are only eight games into the league.
"We haven't achieved anything yet.”