Thanks to a goal in the second half by Brandon Thomas-Asante, West Brom defeated a ten-man Norwich City on Boxing Day to get back to winning ways. Similar to how the score didn’t accurately reflect Middlesbrough’s dominance on Saturday, Albion’s side experienced a similar situation this time. Albion led the game strongly before Borja Sainz was sent off for the Canaries in the opening half.
In the first half, Albion was clearly superior. The only player Carlos Corberan made a change from the team that lost against Middlesbrough was John Swift, who ran the show behind Brandon Thomas-Asante, the lone striker. After some great work from Jed Wallace, he assisted a volley onto the post. However, he missed an even better opportunity when his skipper found him in space inside the penalty area.
Although Norwich had to defend for significant portions of the half, they did issue a couple of warnings of their own when Sainz broke through Albion’s defense and caused Alex Palmer to make a deft low stop. Then, after a long throw in into the penalty area went all the way through and into Sainz’s path, he attempted an incredible shot that went just wide of Palmer’s post.
Seeing the back of the Spaniard, who had shot his own team in the foot, would have made Albion very happy. Sainz, who had previously been punished for a foul on Grady Diangana, protested about an Albion foul in the build-up to Norwich’s attack while colleague Gabriel Sara sized up a long throw-in. These days, it’s strictly forbidden to wave fictitious cards, and referee James Bell implemented the new rule by booking the offending player. They showed Sainz his marching orders.
After an odd substitution of cunning center halves Danny Batth and Grant Hanley for aggressive tandem Jonathann Rowe and Ashley Barnes at halftime, Norwich manager David Wagner’s team fell down after just five minutes of the second half. Rising high at the back post, Diangana defeated Jack Stacey and forced Wallace’s cross into Thomas-Asante’s path, who failed to apply the finishing touch.
Albion was undoubtedly on the verge of ending the match and earning the points. After receiving the ball from Wallace, Diangana flicked a cheeky effort just wide of the post, and Swift nearly lobbed the back-tracking Gunn from the edge of the box. Though they otherwise showed little desire to reenter the game, Norwich had the best opportunity in the second half.
In order to tip the ball around the far post, Palmer had to make a fantastic stop as substitute Hwang bent low to turn a cross towards goal. In the end, that was a player who mostly observed this game’s outcome make a match-winning contribution. Albion now has three points more than those above them and will visit Leeds on Friday.
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