West Brom 0-0 Blackburn: Brereton Diaz hobbles off in stalemate
West Brom 0-0 Blackburn: New Albion boss Steve Bruce is denied victory in his first game by Tyrhys Dolan’s acrobatic clearance as visitors’ top scorer Ben Brereton Diaz hobbles off
- Steve Bruce’s first home game in charge at West Brom ended in stalemate
- Both sides had goals ruled out for offside before Ben Brereton Diaz hobbled off
- West Brom almost snatched it but Adam Reach’s header was cleared off the line
As introductions go, it was polite and respectful. Steve Bruce will take that, for now.
Back in steamy August a West Brom side full of promotion dreams came away from Blackburn with all three points and no inkling that Valerien Ismail would quickly become a sacking waiting to happen.
Fast forward to February and it is Rovers with the high hopes while Albion have been on a slide down to ninth.
Blackburn’s top scorer Ben Brereton Diaz hobbled off in the second half on Monday night
West Brom: Johnstone, Furlong, Ajayi, Clarke, Townsend, Molumby (Gardner-Hickman 80), Mowatt, Robinson, Reach, Ahearne-Grant (Diangana 63), Carroll.
Subs Not Used: O’Shea, Kipre, Button, Tulloch, Castro.
Blackburn: Kaminski, Nyambe,van Hecke, Scott Wharton, Rankin-Costello (Dolan 74), Travis, Rothwell, Giles, Buckley (Johnson 90),Brereton (Khadra 70), Gallagher.
Subs Not Used: Pickering, Pears, Brown, Hedges.
Booked: Rankin-Costello.
Ref: John Brooks (Leicestershire).
Enter Bruce. The ex-Aston Villa, ex-Birmingham City Steve Bruce, who knows his Second City past means the Albion fans will not grace him much of a honeymoon period as he aims for a sixth Premier League promotion.
One point from the first two matches is probably not as good as he hoped but Sheffield United away and Blackburn at home were always going to be tricky fixtures. Certainly the reception of the fans at the end and an absence of boos suggested an acceptance of this no-score draw and it did end a sequence of three straight defeats.
‘I’d like to thank the supporters for the welcome they gave me,’ Bruce said. ‘I want to give them a team they want to watch, and find a way of winning games.
‘I can see plenty of positives but we’ve got a lot to work on. We have to be better in the final third but I’m confident we can be where we want to be.’
On the pitch, his players showed plenty of attacking intent, as did Blackburn, but without any potent threat. Rovers’ finishing was similarly awry.
A draw against Luton followed by defeats to Swansea and Nottingham Forest does not make such good reading for Blackburn, especially as the goals have dried up too. Five blanks in six matches tells its own sorry tale.
Ben Brereton Diaz may have 20 goals this season but he has come up dry in his last seven League and Cup games and there appear to be no-one available to step in and take over.
Ben Brereton Diaz was denied by an offside flag after the home side had a goal ruled out
Steve Bruce’s first home game in charge at West Brom ended in stalemate at the Hawthorns
Worryingly the striker, who had a goal chalked off for offside, limped out of the action in the second half.
His absence would be a major blow to Tony Mowbray.
‘Brereton Diaz’s goal was so marginal, I felt it was onside, someone later told me it wasn’t. We will find out how he is tomorrow but he’s very robust and we hope he just took a kick,’ Mowbray said.
‘We’re frustrated we didn’t get a goal, because we deserved one.’
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