West Brom eased the pressure on head coach Ryan Mason with a 2-0 win over Sheffield United at the Hawthorns.
The Baggies had fallen to the bottom half of the Championship with six defeats in their last 10 games, but thanks to in-form striker Ohne Hegebo’s seventh goal in seven games and a thunderous strike from Karlan Grant, they have moved up to 14th place, just outside the top half on goal difference.
Sheffield United failed to get a shot on target in the second half, ending their six-game unbeaten run. Chris Wilder’s side remain in 17th place after losing their first game since November 4.
West Brom break Stirling record at home
Control of the game was exchanged in the first half, but there were few moments where either team looked like they could capitalize on the momentum.
West Brom have not lost at home since September 13th.
However, Sheffield United created the better chances. Gustavo Hammer forced a fine one-handed save from Joe Wildsmith and 25 minutes later Patrick Bamford fired straight at the Baggies goalkeeper after finding Ousmane Diakite staggering on the edge of his own box.
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Oone Heggebo scores West Brom’s first goal
The hosts took the lead less than five minutes after the restart. Heggebo fed the ball wide to the right to George Campbell, timing his run perfectly and scoring his first-time goal in style from just outside the six-yard box.
This gave West Brom momentum and by the hour mark they had extended their lead. Hegebo teed up Karlan Grant, who appeared to be tripped up by Mark McGuinness as he shaped up to thunder over the underside of the crossbar.
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Karlan Grant scores West Brom’s second goal with a bang
Between the 42nd and 79th minute, the Blades didn’t have a single shot on goal, and in the end, they had four more shots for a total xG value of 0.37, but the game was already over them.
Analysis: Should the grant’s goals have been achieved?
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Curtis Davies and Michael Brown agree West Brom’s second goal against Sheffield United should not have happened
Curtis Davies said on Sky Sports Football:
“For me, no, that shouldn’t have stood. Karlan Grant never meant to drag Mark McGuinness down, but if this was a striker going towards goal and the defender accidentally clipped his ankle, the striker would have been given a penalty, like in this case, or a free-kick. So even if it was just a small touch, that’s why it should have been a foul.”
Michael Brown said on Sky Sports Football:
“It’s a very, very poor decision in a game like this. He had to do it. It’s a clear foul and it changes the outcome. We want a great finish like that, but the referees need to get it right.”
Chris Wilder said on Sky Sports Football:
“(The second) goal was a terrible goal. We were late and tried to flick it around the edge of the box, outside their box. They’re countering and our centre-halves aren’t strong enough. I’m not even interested in whether it’s a foul or not. It’s not a foul. It’s an excuse.”
Mason: Our most mature performance
West Brom head coach Ryan Mason said on Sky Sports Football:
“We played a really mature game, probably the most mature game we’ve played all season. We could feel a little anxious in the first half and we just weren’t quite there with the ball.”
“I’m very proud of the effort our players put in and the maturity they had to get through a period where we weren’t very good.
“We made good decisions and when we had our moments I thought we were outstanding. We could have scored a few more goals, but I’m happy with the win, the clean sheet and how the players are feeling right now.”
On feeling under pressure: “I know there’s a lot of negativity from the outside, I hear it, but we’re not in a bad place. We haven’t lost at home in three months. We’re three points from the play-offs. This league is so crazy and we haven’t had any momentum-building results. And that’s what we have to do.”
“I understand this league very well. When you win two or three games in a row, it completely changes the image and atmosphere from the outside. The most important thing is internally, with the group, with the players, they are still there, they still believe, they are still running, they are still fighting and today they deserved it.”
‘Arrogant’ and ‘miles off’ – Wilder’s rant after Sheff United defeat
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Chris Wilder furious at Sheffield United’s ‘arrogant’ performance in defeat to West Brom, ending unbeaten run
Sheffield United’s Chris Wilder told Sky Sports Football:
“We took a shortcut. It was the most disappointing 45-49 minutes we’ve had in a long, long time. We thought we were miles away. We looked pretty arrogant in our approach and thought the game was going to come to us.”
“We were OK in the first half. We created some really big chances. We felt a bit vulnerable and chased it down, but you have to put the team to bed in that first half. I think they knew the game was coming to them. The players.”
“I have to say I’m sorry to all the traveling supporters because they didn’t deserve the second half. We have to own the game and go back to the drawing board. Tonight was a big setback.”
“Maybe the players thought in the second half we would just do what we did in the first half and there wouldn’t be as much reaction from them. It was a disappointing goal to give.
“I have to say we dodged a bullet. I think it could have easily been three, four, five. I mean, that was the magnitude of our performance I thought the second half was. We came back to life in the last five, 10 minutes. It was too late for that. And if you try to shorten the game at any level, you’re going to get punished.”
“(The second) goal was a terrible goal. We were outside the box in the second half and tried to flick around the edge of the box. They countered, but our centre-half wasn’t strong enough. I’m not even interested in whether it was a foul or not. It wasn’t a foul. It was an excuse.”
“Since then we have lost our form, we have lost our belief, we have lost our composure and composure. I think we had a pretty comfortable second half. The two full-backs were poor in possession. The two centre-halves couldn’t deal with the centre-forwards and couldn’t deal with the goals we conceded.”
“The midfield players, Jairo (Riedewald), he’s not fit so we’re going to give him a little bit of a pass, but we needed him back. (Oli) Arblaster came on and gave us something. We had to go with Gus (Hammer) in the middle of the park in the second half.”
“The two center forwards couldn’t do anything in the second half. The two wide players couldn’t do anything either.
“When you’re talking about the players in terms of those comments, from the second half to the first half, we’re all looking for consistency. We’ve had six, seven, eight games in a row and we thought we’d turned a corner. Maybe people are starting to get ahead of themselves a little bit. Maybe everyone at the football club is just thinking about the play-offs. If we win tonight, we’ll get five points from the play-offs.”
“If we can maintain our second-half performance in the upcoming games, we will be back to where we were when I first took over.
“That’s not what I want from Sheffield United’s performance or Sheffield United’s individual performance. I think if I was one of the players who didn’t play tonight, things would be wide open. Maybe some of them got a little too comfortable or something. I don’t know. I didn’t see that coming.”
“No disrespect, we talked about the chances for us. Everyone smelled it around the ground and even the atmosphere before the game was quite quiet. We said we have to be careful, this is a dangerous game. If we make the wrong decision, we allow them to get the ball. Of course it was a great ball and a great finish, but it happened because we tried to do things on the edge of the box that we didn’t have to do.”
“We talked about the run and the analysis we did on the centre-forward. He goes and goes over the near and goes over the near again. We might as well have thrown that laptop and the analysis we did into the trash. That was the feel of the game.”
“I apologize and the players should too, because it’s a far cry from what we see as individuals and as a team.”
