The curse, stats do lie and a lesser spotted Dike: Three things you missed from West Brom's defeat at Southampton
It was another dreadful evening on the road for Albion as they fell to a 3-2 defeat against Southampton despite a spirited second half comeback.
Goals from Karlan Grant and Nat Phillips gave the Baggies some hope - but the damage was as good as done by half time.
Albion had gifted Southampton three goals in the game - and there was no way back.
Here are a few things you may have missed from the game:
It had to happen
With two ex-Baggies and an ex-academy graduate on the field - it was always going to happen.
Adam Armstrong was always going to bag, which he did, twice.
Tom Fellows showed us why his stock is continuing to rise as he ran the full length of the field with the ball to set up the first goal.
And Finn Azaz, a player who departed Albion without playing a first team game, then set up the third.
Albion beating Albion? Well, to be honest, it was Ryan Mason’s Albion beating themselves because they handed them goals.
But the ex-player curse strikes again. Never works the other way does it?
The stats do lie
The scoreline showed Southampton dominant and they were in a commanding position.
But for as bad as Albion and their errors were at times - the stats told a different story.
An XG of 1.24 compared to Southampton’s which was far less, and on the shot count Albion had way more efforts in the game.
They had nine corners to the home side’s two and made one count - and on shots, it was 18 in total and seven on target for Albion.
That is a marked improvement on recent weeks - with Southampton having eight shots and four on target.
But, football isn’t played on a graph. This one boiled down to horrific mistakes and a team able to take chances.
He is still here after all
It may have had to wait until the final moments of the game - but Daryl Dike made his first appearance in what felt like an eternity.
The striker, who looks like his days at the club beyond this season are numbered - has repeatedly been an unused substitute in recent weeks.
But with Albion searching for a third, he was thrown on.
And although he didn’t have a chance, he did have an impact as his dummy paved the way for a big late chance.
It came to nothing - but at least he put himself about a bit. You would like to think it would give Mason food for thought moving forward. But we will see.
