West Brom 4 Bristol City 1 - Report and pictures
The Championship’s reputation as a division full of pitfalls is well earned but for now Albion seemingly cannot put a foot wrong.
The Baggies fourth win on the spin and their biggest of the season to date saw them equal their best run of form since 2012, clamber back to the top of the table and open up a seven-point gap over third-placed Fulham.
Nothing is ever decided in November, of course, yet Slaven Bilic’s men could hardly be in better shape after a performance which ranked among since the Croatian took charge.
Bristol City are a team with promotion aspirations of their own but here they were a long way behind an Albion side who were superior in every department, combining the tenacity required in any successful Championship XI with sublime flair.
That was most evident in their opening two goals, scored by Kieran Gibbs and Matheus Pereira, the latter with a superb free-kick.
The Baggies then showed their ruthless side by scoring two more late on through Hal Robson-Kanu and Charlie Austin, after Famara Diedhiou’s strike had briefly threatened to set up a grandstand finish.
Austin’s goal came just four minutes after he had come off the bench, yet another inspired decision by Bilic, a manager who for the moment appears to have the midas touch.
Bilic’s team selection was always going to be interesting, with the Baggies boss having a full squad to choose from for the first time since taking charge in the summer.
In the end, there were four changes from the team which had beaten Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 on Saturday, with recalls for Romaine Sawyers, Jake Livermore and Nathan Ferguson, all of whom had missed that match through suspension.
Ferguson, who had served a three-game ban after being sent-off in last month’s draw with Charlton, was installed at right-back for the first time since August, with Darnell Furlong coming out of the starting XI.
He was joined on the bench by Ahmed Hegazi and Filip Krovinovic, while Conor Townsend dropped out of the squad entirely, with Gibbs returning at left-back for his first start since suffering injury in the 1-1 draw at Derby.
The latter decision quickly looked an inspired one when the former Arsenal man opened the scoring on 10 minutes with a goal which combined both tenacity and outrageous skill.
Diangana was the architect, first jumping in to win the ball 25 yards out and then chasing Robson-Kanu’s return pass into the box.
The forward had the option to shoot but with the angle tight and narrowing further with Daniel Bentley racing out of goal, he opted to backheel the ball into the path of Gibbs who swept into the net via the aid of a slight deflection off Nathan Baker. It was his fifth goal for Albion and the first since April.
Diangana went close to getting his own name on the scoresheet soon after but could not keep his shot, from a low Phillips cross, the right side of the post.
Jake Livermore was then guilty of taking one too many touches by trying to set up Pereira, rather than take on a shot, following more impressive build-up play from the hosts.
The visitors rarely showed signs of stirring with long-range efforts from Josh Brownhill and Kasey Palmer the sum of their first-half efforts.
Albion, on the other hand, looked dangerous every time they had the ball in the final third, with Pereira eventually extending the lead in spectacular fashion six minutes before the break.
Livermore won the ball from Palmer and then found Diangana, who was rather clumsily bundled over by visiting skipper Bailey Wright just inches outside the box.
There was no shortage of anticipation around The Hawthorns as Pereira stood over the ball and again the Brazilian did not disappoint, sending a deft lob over the wall and into the top corner, with goalkeeper Bentley only able to watch on helplessly.
By half-time the only consolation for the visitors was that they did not trail by more, Diangana having shot straight at Bentley following another swift Albion counter.
Having already been forced into one switch when Calum O’Dowda was forced off by injury, Robins boss Lee Johnson made his final two changes at the break. The introductions of both Famara Diedhiou and Niclas Eliasson added some much needed impetus to the visitors’ attacking play, with the former seeing an effort blocked on the line.
But after weathering a brief storm it was Albion who then began to threaten again and Diangana was only denied by a brilliant goal-saving challenge from Baker, after latching on to a Phillips pass.
The hard-working Robson-Kanu was then denied by Bentley, following a brief moment of alarm for the hosts when Ferguson misdirected a Pedro Pereira cross toward his own goal.
Albion were cruising and Diedhiou’s goal, which came with 10 minutes remaining when the hosts failed to deal with a corner, came out of the blue.
But any danger of an unlikely comeback was quickly exterminated, Phillips crossing for Robson-Kanu to fire home his fifth goal in seven matches.
Austin, who replaced Pereira immediately after that strike, then made the scoreline even more impressive when he converted a Phillips cross at the second attempt.
Albion (4-2-3-1): Johnstone, Ferguson, Bartley, Ajayi, Gibbs (Furlong 70), Livermore, Sawyers, Diangana (Edwards 76), Pereira (Austin 83), Phillips, Robson-Kanu Subs not used: Hegazi, Barry, Krovinovic, Bond (gk).
Bristol C (3-5-2): Bentley, Wright (Eliason HT), Williams, Baker, Pereira, Brownhill, Nagy, Smith, O’Dowda (Rowe 40), Palmer (Diedhiou HT), Weimann Subs not used: Watkins, Semenyo, Massengo, Maenpaa (gk).
