Stoke 2 West Brom 0 - Report and pictures

West Brom slid to their seventh defeat in nine games as fans turned on boss Alan Irvine and his coaching staff in the clearest way yet at the Britannia Stadium.

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A good first-half display counted for nothing as a second-half brace from Mame Diouf left under-fire Irvine clinging to his job.

And supporters also turned on coaches Keith Downing and Rob Kelly as a season of anger boiled over in the Potteries.

Albion had a good chance to open the scoring early on when Brown Ideye, who was recalled to the starting line-up, raced onto Chris Brunt's chip over the top.

His first touch was good but his second was an attempted shot that flew well over the crossbar.

The Potters were screaming for a penalty when Glenn Whelan cut into the Baggies box and tumbled as Craig Gardner back-tracked to make a challenge.

Referee Roger East waved away the appeals but he also ignored Gardner's demand for a yellow card for diving.

Whelan was involved again moments later when a loose ball in the edge of the box allowed him to try a looping header, which forced Ben Foster into a smart, scrambling save.

And Bojan went even closer for the Potters, the home playmaker cutting in onto his right foot before dragging a shot just off target.

There was a better chance for Ideye when he peeled away from his marker to collect a clever through-ball from Stephane Sessegnon inside the box.

The Nigerian tried to side-foot a low shot past Asmir Begovic but the advancing home keeper read his intentions and smothered his effort.

Albion continued to press and captain Chris Brunt went close to opening the scoring with a 25-yard drive that flew narrowly wide following neat play by Ideye and Gardner to tee him up.

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And moments later Sessegnon had a shooting chance of his own and sent his effort just wide.

That prompted a raucous show of support for the Baggies as they passed their travelling fans on the way down the tunnel at half-time.

But within six minutes of the restart the hosts had punctured a huge hole in that mood of positivity as they took the lead.

Bojan did well to release Erik Pieters on the Stoke left and his pull-back found Diouf, who was afforded far too much space to compose himself and blast a shot past Ben Foster.

Gareth McAuley hit the woodwork for Albion during a frantic scramble but just 15 minutes after conceding the opening goal, the Baggies' hearts were broken by a cruel second.

Marko Arnautovic tried his luck from just inside the box after the ball broke to him and his shot deflected off an unsuspecting Diouf for his second goal of the game.

By then, Saido Berahino and Silvestre Varela had been introduced from the bench by Irvine but even that change cranked up the level of vitriol from the visiting fans.

They sang "You don't know what you're doing" at the bizarre decision to withdraw James Morrison and Sessegnon, who had looked two of the likelier Baggies players to conjure up a goal.

And the abuse got worse for two of Irvine's chief lieutenants, Rob Kelly and Keith Downing, who were pilloried for their links with Albion's arch-rivals Wolves and told to "get out of our club".

Stoke fans told Irvine "you are getting sacked in the morning" with a number of Albion fans opting to join in.