Match ends, West Bromwich Albion 1, Stoke City 0.
West BromWest Bromwich Albion1StokeStoke City0
- WBA's first ever Premier League home win against Stoke
- Baggies bounce back from two defeats by Aston Villa
- Ideye scores his fifth goal in eight games
- Stoke's three-match winning run ends
West Brom boss Tony Pulis masterminded a victory against his former club as the Baggies edged out lacklustre Stoke.
Brown Ideye headed the decisive goal early on but the hosts could have had more in a dominant display that lifts them 11 points clear of the drop zone.
The visitors, whom Pulis managed from 2006 until 2013 and moulded into an effective Premier League outfit, failed to muster a clear chance.
Peter Crouch's blocked header was the closest they came to equalising.
Stoke have carved out a reputation as West Brom's bogey team in recent years, winning all five of their previous Premier League visits to The Hawthorns.
Four of those victories were plotted by Pulis, but this time the tracksuited taskmaster tasted success in the opposite dugout as he continued his impressive start as Baggies boss.
| Beating the bogey team |
|---|
| West Brom has lost their five previous Premier League home games to Stoke and had beaten the Potters just once in 16 attempts before today. |
The Midlanders have now kept eight clean sheets in the 13 matches since Pulis took charge, while this was their fourth successive home win in all competitions.
It was also an impressive response to painful successive defeats by local rivals Aston Villa in their previous two games, culminating in last week's exit from the FA Cup.
Instrumental in West Brom's revival under Pulis has been Ideye, who the manager attempted to offload in January following the Nigerian's disappointing start to the season.
But since the last-minute collapse of a deadline-day move to Qatari club Al Gharafa, Ideye has scored five goals.
For his latest, the striker nipped ahead of the flat-footed Phil Bardsley to nod home Craig Gardner's teasing cross.
The Baggies proceeded to brush aside an in-form Stoke side who had won their last three matches.
Berahino flashed a shot across the face of goal, before Begovic did well to deny Ideye with a fine low save after the break.
Stoke threatened sporadically, with Crouch seeing a header charged down after Ben Foster fumbled a cross.
But it was a largely comfortable afternoon for Pulis - with the relegation fears he inherited when he replaced Alan Irvine at the start of the year now appearing to be all-but extinguished.
West Brom manager Tony Pulis: "It was a very good performance - the disappointing thing is that we didn't get a second goal.
"The players have been through the mill the past couple of weeks with bad results against Villa, but not bad performances.
"This was a big win for the supporters after having to take that on the chin."
Stoke City manager Mark Hughes: "It wasn't good enough today. We started slowly, conceded an early goal and didn't really improve.
"There's no point me trying to dress it up differently. West Brom coped comfortably with our threat, which was minimal.
"We hope today was just one of those games."
Line-ups
West Brom
- 1FosterSubstituted forMyhillat 56'minutesBooked at 90mins
- 25Dawson
- 23McAuley
- 6Lescott
- 11Brunt
- 29Sessegnon
- 24Fletcher
- 8Gardner
- 7Morrison
- 18BerahinoSubstituted forBairdat 90+5'minutes
- 9IdeyeSubstituted forOlssonat 90'minutes
Substitutes
- 2Wisdom
- 3Olsson
- 4Baird
- 13Myhill
- 15Pocognoli
- 16Gamboa
- 21Mulumbu
Stoke
- 1Begovic
- 2Bardsley
- 17Shawcross
- 12WilsonBooked at 53mins
- 3PietersSubstituted forCameronat 45'minutes
- 15N'Zonzi
- 6Whelan
- 19WaltersSubstituted forDioufat 68'minutesBooked at 74mins
- 16Adam
- 13MosesSubstituted forArnautovicat 58'minutes
- 25Crouch
Substitutes
- 7Ireland
- 10Arnautovic
- 18Diouf
- 20Cameron
- 21Sidwell
- 22Butland
- 23Teixeira
- Referee:
- Michael Oliver
- Attendance:
- 24,323
Match Stats
Home TeamWest BromAway TeamStoke
- Possession
- Home43%
- Away57%
- Shots
- Home14
- Away9
- Shots on Target
- Home5
- Away2
- Corners
- Home7
- Away5
- Fouls
- Home7
- Away16
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, West Bromwich Albion 1, Stoke City 0.
Post update
Foul by Phil Bardsley (Stoke City).
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Stéphane Sessegnon (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Substitution
Substitution, West Bromwich Albion. Chris Baird replaces Saido Berahino.
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Foul by Marko Arnautovic (Stoke City).
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Stéphane Sessegnon (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Attempt blocked. Marko Arnautovic (Stoke City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Booking
Boaz Myhill (West Bromwich Albion) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Peter Crouch (Stoke City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Boaz Myhill (West Bromwich Albion).
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Foul by Phil Bardsley (Stoke City).
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Stéphane Sessegnon (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution
Substitution, West Bromwich Albion. Jonas Olsson replaces Brown Ideye because of an injury.
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Delay over. They are ready to continue.
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Delay in match Brown Ideye (West Bromwich Albion) because of an injury.
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Foul by Steven N'Zonzi (Stoke City).
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Brown Ideye (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Glenn Whelan (Stoke City).
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James Morrison (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
