West Brom 1 Stoke 0 - Report and pictures

Brown Ideye returned to the West Brom scoresheet to give boss Tony Pulis a priceless three points against his former club.

[gallery]

Ideye headed home on 19 minutes for his sixth goal of the season to hand Albion victory in a game they dominated from start to finish.

But the home crowd had to bear a tense second half as their side failed to collect the second goal that would have eased tensions around The Hawthorns.

The result puts Pulis's men on 33 points and within touching distance of Premier League safety.

Albion made a bright start with Berahino especially prominent.

Early on he had a 20-yard effort scrambled around the post by Asmir Begovic and moments later he tested the keeper again with another effort from the edge of the box.

Stoke saw little of the ball in the opening exchanges but Victor Moses sent a shot just wide of Ben Foster's goal on 10 minutes.

Albion were well on top, however, and they took a deserved lead in the 19th minute.

Craig Gardner delivered a fine cross from the right and Ideye nipped in front of a napping Phil Bardsley to stoop and head into the bottom corner.

Albion: Foster (Myhill 55'), Dawson, McAuley, Lescott, Brunt, Morrison, Fletcher, Gardner, Sessegnon, Berahino (Baird 90+5'), Ideye (Olsson 90').

Subs: Wisdom, Pocognoli, Mulumbu, Gamboa.

GOAL: Ideye 19'

Booked: Myhill (foul 90+3')

Stoke: Begovic, Bardsley, Shawcross, Wilson, Pieters (Cameron 45'), Nzonzi, Whelan, Walters (Diouf 68'), Adam, Moses Arnautovic (58'), Crouch.

Subs: Butland, Ireland, Sidwell, Teixeira.

Booked: Wilson (foul 53'), Diouf (foul 74')

Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland)

Attendance: 24,323 [/breakout]

Albion could have doubled their lead when a good pass from Craig Dawson sent Berahino clear but he fired wide with a difficult cross shot instead of picking out Gareth McAuley, who had charged forward from centre-back into the Stoke six-yard box.

And they thought they had scored again when Begovic spilled a shot from James Morrison and Ideye stole the loose ball and rolled it into an empty net.

The officials ruled out the goal for offside with replays showing Ideye was in an offside position when Morrison let fly.

But Pulis was furious, clearly believing Begovic's fumble had signalled a new phase of play.

There was a worrying moment for the hosts early in the second half when Foster spilled a left-wing cross under pressure from Peter Crouch and Joleon Lescott had to make a hurried clearance.

Foster was injured on landing and, although he tried to continue, he was eventually replaced by Boaz Myhill.

In between the injury and the substitution Albion could have doubled their lead when Morrison burst down the left and crossed to the far post, but Berahino sent a difficult header wide.

Albion had to withstand a spell of heavy Potters pressure which reached its height when Myhill had to backpeddle to push over a fick from Jon Walters that was threatening to drop under the crossbar.

But the Baggies regained some composure and Begovic made a smart save to keep out a shot from Ideye after a smart move on the edge of the Stoke area.

Albion were denied an apparently blatant penalty when Ideye headed down a free-kick and Dawson appeared to be barged over by Geoff Cameron, only for referee Michael Oliver to wave away their protests.

But they kept pressing and only a fine, flying save from Begovic kept out James Morrison's long-range effort.

In stoppage time, however, the Baggies were thankful to McAuley for a crucial tackle to deny Bardsley after a clever Stoke move.

And late on a slip by Dawson gave Crouch a run on goal which was halted by a foul by Myhill which earned the Baggies keeper a booking.

[comments_cta header="What do you think?" text="How do you rate the West Brom performance today?" button="Log in and start commenting"]