Slaven Bilic praises West Brom's all-encompassing display after win over Bristol City
Slaven Bilic reckons Albion set the standard for the remainder of the Championship season after beating Bristol City to go back top of the table.
The delighted boss lavished praise on his team after last night’s 4-1 victory at The Hawthorns - the Baggies biggest win of the season to date.
First-half goals from Kieran Gibbs and Matheus Pereira - the latter with a superb free-kick - put the hosts on course for victory.
Hal Robson-Kanu and substitute Charlie Austin then netted late on after Famara Diedhiou had briefly given the visitors hope.
“Apart from the goal they scored the only negative thing we could talk about was why we did not score more goals?” said Bilic.
“When you say that after you have won 4-1 against one of the very top teams who had lost only two games before, it speaks volumes about our performance.
“I don’t want to hide it. Of course, we have to stay humble and down to earth but why not say it? This is a great example, we have done really well.
“We showed physicality, we showed shape and managing the game. We showed one-against-one and pace and skill. We showed everything. We slaughtered them on second balls.
“There is no discussion. This has to be the standard. One day you are going to play better, one day you are going to hit the ball from the free-kick.
“But in terms of effort and managing the game that has to be our standard if we are aiming high and we are aiming high.”
Victory saw Albion open up a seven-point lead over third-placed Fulham, while the Baggies are now the division's top scorers and on their best run of form since 2012.
Bilic added: “I was pleased with the performance from the first minute till the last.
“Even when they had a five-minute spell at the start of the second half I loved it that we were there fighting. We suffered and defended as a team.”
