West Brom 1-0 Coventry - Report
Albion returned to winning ways after Championship and FA Cup defeats with a deserved 1-0 victory over Coventry City.
Grady Diangana was the early goal hero for Carlos Corberan's hosts as the Baggies returned to league action at The Hawthorns for the first time in more than a month.
It is the first time since 1977 Albion have won six home league games on the spin without conceding a goal.
Three points lifted Albion from 10th to fifth in the second tier ahead of rival action this weekend, a welcome shot in the arm after travelling setbacks at Burnley a fortnight ago and Bristol City in the Cup last weekend.
It was not plain-sailing for the hosts but, with the game's only goal reward for an electric start to the clash that could've brought more goals at either end, Corberan's men merited the win.
Albion came through the pre-game blow of losing goalkeeper Alex Palmer to an injury in training. David Button was called into action and performed well with the few shots he had to repel and was notably good with his distribution.
A welcome success was the ideal tonic in a week Corberan added duo Marc Albrighton and Nathaniel Chalobah to his ranks. Albrighton was handed a debut from the off and was a real livewire early on with impressive delivery.
Pre-match rumours of an injury to goalkeeper Palmer were confirmed with Button between the sticks and Josh Griffiths on the bench.
It was Button's first start since October 1 under former boss Steve Bruce. The keeper struggled for form earlier in the season and was dropped for Palmer just before Bruce's axing.
There was an immediate debut from the off for Albrighton, the deadline day loan signing from Leicester City. His fellow recruit Chalobah started on the bench.
Albrighton started on the right of Albion's 4-2-3-1, with Jed Wallace central and Diangana left.
John Swift also made the bench on his way back from an ankle injury. There was no place in the squad for Taylor Gardner-Hickman and Tom Rogic.
The Sky Blues beat Corberan's Albion 1-0 with a stoppage-time penalty at the CBS Arena just before Christmas. Mark Robins' side then went winless in six prior to a 2-0 success over Huddersfield last week.
It was a thrilling start under the lights and could have been 2-2 inside 15 minutes. Daryl Dike headed a glorious early cross over from Albrighton's delicious delivery with his weaker left foot.
Coventry did not stand by and watch, and instead threatened themselves. Top scorer Viktor Gyokeres might have done better sliding in on to a low cross.
The Baggies hit back and Wallace, from a central role, saw a couple of strikes blocked and one that whizzed over the top right corner, again with Albrighton involved.
It was the Baggies who took advantage of suspect Sky Blues defending to edge ahead on 15 minutes.
For all of Albion's nice play it was something of an agricultural opener - via the arms of Darnell Furlong.
The right-back hurled in a long throw. Wallace climbed in the middle of the box to flick on, where Diangana timed his movement to perfection to poke high into the net.
It was 1-0 when it might have already been 3-2. Understandably the high-octane start calmed after that moment.
But it didn't ease the workload from the white and navy blue shirts as Albion worked noticeably hard both with and without the ball, polar opposite to a limp FA Cup exit at Bristol City.
The heavily-involved Wallace curled wide across goal from a tight angle after persistent Diangana work.
Dike was close to doubling his side's leak shortly after the break. He raced on to a lovely lofted pass from the impressive Okay Yokuslu but was thwarted by goalkeeper Ben Wilson, who raced out to meet him.
Corberan rolled the dice on the hour and Brandon Thomas-Asante came on for Dike. He was typically busy and only Luke McNally's fine recovery challenge denied an early chance.
Albion remained on top but the contest stayed in the balance at 1-0. Gustavo Hamer gave the Sky Blues a rare sight of goal with a 25-yard free-kick well parried clear by Button.
Corberan introduced permanent signing Chalobah for a debut with 25 minutes left. The former Watford and Fulham man looked a commanding presence in midfield.
Furlong's downwards header from sub Swift's corner was narrowly over but Coventry remained a threat.
Corberan's side needlessly played themselves into trouble as Chalobah couldn't take in a loose Swift pass and the visitors should have hit the target through Gyokeres, who could only lash a fierce drive over the top.
That was as good as it got for Coventry. Albion were otherwise composed and professional and fully deserved their reward.
Teams
Albion (4-2-3-1): Button; Furlong, O'Shea (c), Pieters, Townsend; Molumby, Yokuslu (Chalobah, 67); Albrighton (Swift, 74), Wallace, Diangana; Dike (Thomas-Asante, 59).
Subs not used: Griffiths, Reach, Ajayi, Grant.
Coventry (3-4-2-1): Wilson; McNally, Doyle (Kelly, 90+3), Panzo; Norton-Cuffy (Eccles, 61), Hamer, Sheaf (Wilson-Esbrand, 61), Bidwell; Palmer (Godden, 61), Allen (c) (Maguire, 78); Gyokeres.
Subs not used: Moore, Burroughs.
Attendance: 24,719 (1,980 Coventry fans)
Referee: Gavin Ward