The journey to the Hawthorns was hectic as usual trying to negotiate the traffic at the road works around Burn Tree Island, for God’s sake when will that be finished? I met up with a few mates at The Vine and of course discussed how proud we are of our football team’s start in the biggest league in the world.
Today’s game saw the first local derby of the season at the Hawthorns, and after seeing the games against Sunderland, Liverpool and Spurs, I was really looking forward to facing Blues at the mighty Hawthorns. Blues have had a good start to the season but so have the Baggies, well apart from the first game, which is well long forgotten. It seems that Dorrans would be back so I hoped he’d at least be on the bench.
First half
Blues controlled the first half as the Baggies seemed nervous and failed to control the midfield threat. West Brom created a few chances in the first half but failed to capitalise in front of goal. Peter Odemwingie had the best chance to put Albion in front after a stunning run and cross from Thomas but Odemwingie scuffed his shot. The Blues went in front after Cameron Jerome got onto the end of a free kick just after Odemwingie's shot at goal. The Baggies pressed towards the end of the first half but failed to capitalise, the half time scored saw the Baggies 1-0 down.
After the break
Di Matteo made a change at half time bringing on Dorrans for Fortune, pushing Odemwingie up front as the lone striker. I was quite surprised that he had taken off one of the strikers as we were behind at this point, but how did the manager prove me wrong! West Brom started the second half like a totally different team. We dominated the midfield and created chance after chance. The equaliser came soon after the re-start as Thomas went on another one of his runs, crossing the ball into the box which was fumbled into his own net by Dann.
The second Albion goal came in the 59th minute as Odemwingie slipped the ball past Foster after smart work by the front man. Blues became more frustrated as Bowyer picked up a yellow for a challenge on Tamas, he was subsequently substituted just after and received some stick from the Baggies fans as he left the pitch. Albion went even further in front after Olsson got his head on Chris Brunt’s swinging corner. The Baggies were never under threat in the second half and the game ended with a 3-1 win to the mighty Albion.
It is so refreshing to see the Baggies compete with teams such as Blues, Spurs and Sunderland. This just shows that the management team have brought in the right players that suits the way the team play. I thought today’s game against the Blues would be tight, possibly a draw, but they proved me wrong. The Hawthorns was rocking in the second half and I must admit we are looking like a threat in the Premier League. The mighty West Brom are sitting pretty at ninth in the league.
I would like to see The Hawthorns packed to the rafters but it seems that some fans are staying away for some reason. Come on you Baggies fans let’s get the Hawthorns packed so we can all help the lads push on.