Carlos Corberan steered West Bromwich Albion to their first win in nine away at Hull City on Sunday, as a quickfire Baggies double in the first half secured a 2-1 victory.
It wasn’t the most vintage display from the visitors – who only mustered up five shots all game to the hosts’ superior 13 – but it was a win nonetheless. That would have been a relief for Corberan who was starting to feel the weight of pressure in the dug-out.
Thankfully for the Spaniard, and the travelling contingent who made the journey to the MKM Stadium, a clinical first-half showing ensured a rare win was forthcoming, as Josh Maja and Karlan Grant delivered the goods.
Maja & Grant’s important goals
Maja will hope another purple patch in front of goal is coming his way after another goal on the road versus the Tigers, after he also instinctively flicked home his side’s only strike away at Luton Town recently.
The former Sunderland striker scored his team’s second of the day, powering home a header that was put on a plate for him by defender Darnell Furlong, taking his Championship goal tally for the campaign up to nine strikes as a result.
Grant also celebrated a goal of his own on Humberside, with a deflection helping his powerful effort beat Ivor Pandur in the Hull net, before the Baggies number 9 delivered another sucker punch shortly after.
Both players didn’t last the full 90 minutes, but the attacking duo would be well aware come full-time that their efforts were key in a much-needed victory coming home to the Hawthorns.
However, it wasn’t exactly the most jaw-dropping display from the Baggies, who struggled in attacking areas as much as they excelled, with Tom Fellows out-of-sorts throughout.
Fellows’ performance in numbers
Fellows started this second-tier campaign like a runaway train, with his performances inevitably going to tail off at some point.
Picking up three assists during his side’s opening four games in the league, only two more have come Fellows’ way since, with the West Brom academy prodigy in no danger of adding to his assist collection away at Hull.
Fellows’ performance in numbers | |
|---|---|
Stat | Fellows |
Minutes played | 54 |
Goals scored | 0 |
Assists | 0 |
Touches | 17 |
Accurate passes | 6/8 (75%) |
Key passes | 0 |
Shots | 0 |
Successful dribbles | 0/1 |
Total duels won | 3/7 |
Stats by Sofascore | |
It was a sorry outing for the youngster at the weekend, managing to accumulate just 17 touches of the ball and six accurate passes before Corberan substituted him early into the second half, for Everton loanee Lewis Dobbin to gain a run-out.
Also failing to complete a single successful dribble, or even test Pandur with a shot, the England U21 international might well find he’s out of his manager’s first-team plans for West Brom’s next league encounter with Norwich City after the lengthy break.
There isn’t an overwhelming abundance of options at Corberan’s disposal down the right flank, however, with Dobbin notably underwhelming in Fellows’ place with just one accurate pass registered from his 38 minutes on the pitch. Thus, the ex-Huddersfield Town manager will be left scrambling over who he could pick here.
He could unleash Grady Diangana down the wing again, who is capable of playing down either channel, or he could also give Jed Wallace more minutes, as the ex-Millwall man is equally versatile enough across the midfield to slot in here on request.
Whatever he does decide to do with this area of the pitch, Corberan will just hope more wins are notched up moving forward away from falling victim to another poor run of form, with the Spaniard celebrating his 100th game in charge of the Baggies in a victorious manner at Hull.
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