Premier League - West Brom stay alive with win

Eurosport - Sat, 09 May 23:12:00 2009

A Marc-Antoine Fortune brace either side of a Chris Brunt penalty gave West Bromwich Albion a stay of relegation execution with a 3-1 victory over Wigan Athletic at the Hawthorns.

FOOTBALL Chris Brunt Valero Borja West Brom Wigan - 0

The Baggies knew failure to win could see them relegated but the victory - in conjunction with Hull's defeat at home to Stoke - means Tony Mowbray's side can still dream of a great escape.

Fortune's eighth minute close-range strike was cancelled out on 17 minutes when Hugo Rodallega's free-kick took a deflection off Brunt and wrong-footed Dean Kiely in West Brom's goal.

But West Brom's persistence with composed attacking football paid dividends when Fortune was brought down in the box by the lumbering Titus Bramble following a quick break. Brunt fired the resulting penalty straight at Richard Kingston, but had enough time to control the rebound and thrash home.

With Wigan pursuing an equaliser, West Brom broke and Fortune fired home his second of the afternoon to give the home faithful real hope of survival.

West Brom started the brighter of the two sides and were duly rewarded with Fortune's early strike.

Any other team in a relegation dogfight would have tried to consolidate, but not West Brom. And the chase for a second left some gaping holes at the back for Wigan to exploit.

So much so that Wigan almost conjured an immediate riposte in the 10th minute, Kiely first denying Paul Scharner and then, incredibly, Olivier Kapo from two yards, following some sloppy defending at a corner.

Having said that, Juan Carlos Menseguez could have doubled the Baggies lead only a minute before Rodallega equalised. Having been fed by Brunt, the Argentine twisted and turned before looping an effort goal-bound from the penalty spot, only for Richard Kingson, an early replacement for Chris Kirkland, to claw it away for a corner.

In a contrast of styles, Rodallega and N'Zogbia continued to bundle forward at will, but were profligate with any clear cut chances.

Although, Antonio Valencia could have struck a sucker punch in injury time of the first half. Capitalising on some horrible defending, the Ecuadorian bore down on Kiely, but could only fire straight at the Irishman.

West Brom opened up the second half in worryingly familiar fashion, putting together some slick passing moves but with little threat, while all the time looking vulnerable at the back.

But with 59 minutes gone Bramble gifted West Brom the chance to regain the lead - referee Peter Walton deeming his clumsy challenge on Fortune worthy of a penalty, which Brunt dispatched at the second time of asking.

With Wigan pouring forward but running out of ideas, West Brom broke quickly to make all three points safe. The diminutive Borja Valero weaving down the right before playing in Fortune to grab his second and West Brom's third via a deflection in the 73rd minute.

The Baggies only had to hold out for a further 17 minutes but were becoming increasingly nervous. However, the home side were given a welcome breather after second half substitute Amr Zaki picked up a nasty injury.

The long delay for Zaki's injury and a slew of substitutions helped West Brom run down the clock, but there was still a late barrage of long-ball football to keep the home fans on the edge of their seats. West Brom just about coped and with it secured what is a vital win in their unlikely attempt to beat the drop.

Marcus Foley / Eurosport

Comment 1 - 17 of 17

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  1. well done albion hope we can get at least a draw­ against liverpool

    From adams429, on Mon 11 May 3:39PM

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    From WWW.PREMIERSHIP.ALTERVISTA.ORG, on Sat 9 May 8:24PM

  3. why dont people put in their predictions for which­ three teams will get relegated instead of just abusing­ certain teams it would be more interesting Hull­ newcastle and west brom to go down what are your­ predictions

    From bob, on Sat 9 May 7:48PM
  4. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I OM AL WENKED OOT. NO SPURT LAFT OFTAR ME BASHAN­ SESSIAN THAS MARNAN. ATS NAT MY FALT ATS THON PARN­ TOOB.

    From donneysbeck, on Sat 9 May 7:45PM
  5. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    NAY NAY WAST BRAM UR DEED. A WAS REEDAN THA­ OBITCHARARIES OND AR SAZ THEY UR DEED.

    From donneysbeck, on Sat 9 May 7:43PM

  6. Sorry West Brom fans but your doom will be sealed next­ week - you simply have NO CHANCE of survival.
    As for­ you Nick000 - what's your problem; pillock!

    From cameron w, on Sat 9 May 6:59PM

  7. hope west brom stay up an all north east teams go down,­ especially newcastle, bout time they realised ow @#$%­ they r

    From Nick000, on Sat 9 May 6:19PM

  8. GOOD LUCK TO WEST BROM

    From P, on Sat 9 May 6:03PM

  9. lets hope the wigan team are back off their holidays,­ the last 3 games they have been poor to say the least.­ maybe rodallega can get his first today.

    From AUDREY G, on Sat 9 May 8:03AM

  10. GO THE BAGGIES WE CAN STILL DO IT.

    From albion_forestor, on Sat 9 May 4:45AM

  11. baggies to win 4-2 just to prove that we can do it. we­ do need these 3 points sorry wigan but steve bruce owes­ us a favour.

    From craig, on Sat 9 May 12:49AM

  12. Come on Wigan! We don't need the points as much as­ they do but that wont stop me going ballistic if we­ lose I mean for gods sake we were supposed 2 be aiming­ for Europe this season, look where that beliefs got us,­ the feeling of safety is so stupid, there's still a­ chance we'll go down. They'll be everything 2­ play for, if we win we'll almost definatly stay up,­ if West Brom lose, they go down. It'll be a tough­ match could go either way

    From laticsgirl, on Fri 8 May 8:46PM

  13. Come on the Baggies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From mickhayes133, on Fri 8 May 7:11PM

  14. what would arsenal fans know about anything,they are­ the joke team of the so called big 4.

    From AUDREY G, on Fri 8 May 1:42PM

  15. baggies will win the game.....3-1..

    goal scorers­

    west brom:

    chris brunt 30",45+1" ­ && simpson 63"

    wigan:

    mido­ 87"

    from an arsenal fan.........arsenal 4­ life..........

    From daro, on Fri 8 May 10:11AM

  16. we like going to the midlands we always win there, so­ 2-0 about right.

    From AUDREY G, on Fri 8 May 8:19AM

  17. Oh we are OK then because we never score the first goal­ so we should win then "UP THE BAGGIES"

    From tildesleym, on Thu 7 May 6:17PM
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