Team
After last Saturday’s drubbing, Roberto, not surprisingly, rang a couple of changes, with Olsson stepping into Pablo’s boots and new signing Peter Odemwingie preferred to Roman Bednar up front. Personally I thought this was a brave move, given that for all his wealth of international experience, this would be his first taste of the blood and thunder of the Premier League. Scott Carson kept his place between the sticks after the ‘will he or wont he’ dropped rumors circulating around Albion fans for the past week. Although easy to say in hindsight, I would have gone along with that decision, dropping him now would have smashed his confidence and made the road to returning as our number one a very steep one.
First Half
A packed Hawthorns created a decent pre-match atmosphere, and Sunderland typically sold their allocation of tickets and were in good voice. We also got to view our very stylish video presentation of each team member as their name was introduced. If you missed this, then think of how teams are often presented on Sky Sports and you should have a vague idea.
With Albion attacking the Smethwick End, we enjoyed some good early possession. The rain, which had fell prior to kick off gave the pitch that extra zip which possibly suited our style of play as opposed to Sunderland’s more direct approach.
Odemwingie was proving a nuisance to Sunderland’s back line right from the off and it was no surprise that the first chance of the afternoon fell to the Nigerian international. After some neat build up Chris Brunt fed ‘Pete’ who easily raced clear of Sunderland’s defence, leaving him with a clear one-on-one, was this the moment we had been waiting all summer for? A striker to answer our prayers and provide us with the goals that would keep us in the Premier League… sadly given his first chance at goal, the above looked very unlikely as he snatched at the chance and dragged the ball wide. For a brief moment I wondered what would have been the reaction of the crowd if Moore, Miller or even Bednar had missed that chance given that they come at a premium in this league. To be fair, I would suggest that the three above strikers might have hidden had they have missed, but if anything this spurred ‘Pete’ into closing the ball down and using his fantastic pace to good effect by selfishly running the channels.
For all our bright early play, our old bugbear was returning with Albion conceding a succession of silly free kicks in dangerous areas. With some of the players on show in this league, we need to quickly learn that most teams have a player capable of hurting us from 20/25 yards and Sunderland’s dead ball expert of course is no stranger to Baggies fans – Kieran Richardson. However, his 15th minute effort had too much height on it and the Baggies defence breathed a sigh of relief.
At least the ‘wall’ were not like the Berlin one on show last week at Chelsea, and were in fact needed to prevent Darren Bent’s goal bound effort moments later, bringing cheers from the Brummie Road.
The game was entering but very ‘stop/start’ thanks to referee Kevin Friend, who, at one point, held up play to ensure that a Sunderland free kick was positioned correctly only for their ‘keeper to move the ball a further five yards forward from its original position once he had turned his back! And to think you could make a decent living out of being a Premier League referee, they will want image rights soon….
Back to the action and another flowing move nearly allowed Brunt to open our goals for column in spectacular fashion. Dorrans’ left footed cross looked to be slightly behind Brunt but he acrobatically adjusted his body to produce a stunning overhead kick that flew inches wide. Cliché or not , but this surely would have been a goal of the month/season contender had it flown in. I often wonder about Brunt if had genuine pace how far he could have climbed the football food chain?
A few brief exchanges brought the first half to a close with both Cech and Thomas snatching half chances.
Second Half
Albion where forced into swapping Barnes for Thomas, who had fell awkwardly on his ankle shortly before half time and it was the Baggies sub who seemed to spark Albion into life with two very direct runs and useful crosses into Sunderland’s penalty area. Unfortunately ‘Pete’ failed to get anywhere near either cross but clearly Sunderland were concerned about our new found joy on the left flank.
The surprisingly quite Graham Dorrans was next to threaten Sunderland’s goal with a powerful free kick from a very acute angle. The ball stung the glove of the Black Cats’ ‘keeper but was scrambled away to safety.
As the half progressed we were getting pushed further back, and although the back for looked relatively solid, this IS Albion!
It was during this spell that Sunderland had their best effort, with Carson making a superb diving save to deny Kieran Richardson. Carson in fact looked very capable all afternoon despite Sunderland’s lack of cutting edge. Rest assured though he will no doubt be working overtime at Anfield next Sunday.
Just as the game was petering out to a stalemate, the Baggies took the lead. A simple ball from right back Jara fed Morrison who in turn slipped in ‘Pete’ who showed Onuoha a clean pair of heels before stabbing the ball into the bottom left of the goal. Cue ecstasy, and the loudest rendition of ‘You’re Not Singing Any More’ that I had heard in many a year at The Hawthorns.
We saw out the remaining ten minutes with relative comfort and in fact should have doubled our advantage with Brunt’s cracking 25 yarder, which unkindly smashed the top of the cross bar with the ‘keeper well beaten.
Reflection
It sounds ridiculous to call this fixture a ‘must win game’ with 36 still to play, but with the ‘random’ fixture list being so cruel, we didn’t want to be halfway through September with zero points on the board. In ‘Pete’ we, dare I say it, may just have found a striker who could genuinely get into double figures this season. I watched his movement, pace and control compared to £18 Million Darren Bent, and given that Sunderland’s hitman is so well thought of at this level, I think we genuinely have a forward who would not look out of place at Fulham, West Ham, Everton etc. James Morrison looked somewhere near his old self with his best performance since his foot debacle. Giles Barnes really could be a huge signing if he can remember when and when not to release the ball and Chris Brunt shown once again why he needs to make this level his home.
Finally a word of praise for Youssouf Mulumbu who protected the back line superbly. Again, as frustrating as it can be waiting for us to ‘get busy’ in the transfer window, the Albion scouting network make a mockery of over inflated transfer fees. Just how on earth we prized this boy away from Paris Saint Germaine for next to nothing still amazes me, and if he can keep it simple, like he did yesterday, then he may just become one of our biggest assets.