Advertisement

Resurgent Stoke City exploit West Bromwich Albion’s lack of invention

Tyrese Campbell reels away in celebration after scoring the only goal of the game - Getty Images Europe
Tyrese Campbell reels away in celebration after scoring the only goal of the game - Getty Images Europe

West Bromwich Albion 0 Stoke City 1

West Bromwich Albion remain top of the Championship by a point from stuttering Leeds United but still cannot shake off the mid-season torpor that has cost them two defeats in their last three matches at the Hawthorns and seen them win only one in their last eight overall.

They dominated possession but were a blunt force going forward as Stoke continued their revival under Michael O’Neill, the Potters defending an early Tyrese Campbell goal to extend their points tally under the Ulsterman to 20 points from 13 matches.

Slaven Bilic, the Albion manager, spoke about his interest in the Dinamo Zagreb forward Mislav Orsic before the match. On this evidence, he needs to find something that provide his side with a new spark.

Albion are still trying to work out what happened to the scintillating form that brought them six straight wins through November and early December, but which has oddly eluded them since they thumped Swansea 5-1 here at the culmination of that run.

The subsequent wobble has coincided for the most part with the loss to injury of Grady Diangana, the fleet-footed winger they have on loan from West Ham, and it will have dismayed both Bilic and West Ham manager David Moyes that the 21-year-old’s first start in a month ended after less than four minutes after he pulled up in the middle of the field. It was a back problem that had sidelined him.

Bilic had pleaded with his side to cut their tendency to make individual errors and it was little wonder he was shaking his head after Stoke went ahead after only nine minutes, the goal stemming from Jake Livermore’s carelessness in giving away possession.  Nick Powell released a lovely ball over the top into the path of Tom Ince, who had some luck when Ahmed Hegazi’s attempted clearance hit him on the thigh but then had enough awareness to slide the ball across into the space where Tyrese Campbell was arriving to knock it home.

Like Diangana, Campbell’s match ended early when what looked like a hamstring injury after 24 minutes. But it made little difference for Stoke, who were already content to play a defensive game and did it pretty effectively for the remainder of the opening half, although it did cost them a couple of yellow cards, for Liam Lindsay and Joe Allen.  Stoke fans were enraged when Albion’s Mateus Pereira, who had a close-range header saved in what amounted to Albion’s only effort on target in that time, escaped with only a warning after seeming to catch Allen with a flailing elbow.

Pereira, the architect of that win over Swansea, is now finding that opponents have wised up to his creativity and is often closely marked. This is both limiting his influence and possibly causing him some frustration, as was witnessed when he snatched at a half-chance early in the second half and sent his shot well over the bar.

On this occasion, it was not only Pereira who found opportunities to shape the game in short supply as Stoke maintained an impressive defensive discipline.  Desperate to force a change, Bilic introduced Chris Brunt and Charlie Austin with 15 minutes left, but to no avail.

Match details

West Bromwich Albion (4-2-3-1): Johnstone; Furlong, Bartley, Hegazi, Townsend (Brunt, 75); Livermore, Sawyers; Phillips, Pereira, Diangana (Zohore 4); Robson-Kanu (Austin, 75).
Substitutes not used: Bond (g), Ajayi, Krovinovic, Edwards.
Booked: Bartley.
Stoke City (4-2-3-1): Butland; Smith, Batth, Lindsay, Martins Indi; Allen, Clucas; Ince (Collins, 87), Powell (Cousins, 72), McClean; Campbell (Gregory, 25).
Substitutes not used: Davies (g), Vokes, Ngoy, Thompson.
Booked: Smith, Lindsay, Allen.
Goal: Campbell (9).
Referee: Tim Robinson (West Sussex).