Birmingham 1-0 West Brom: Lyle Taylor penalty sees Albion's play-off hopes dented at St Andrew's

West Bromwich Albion suffered a huge blow to their Championship play-off hopes after suffering a 1-0 defeat to local rivals Birmingham at St Andrew's.

Lyle Taylor's 67th-minute penalty after a Conor Townsend handball was the difference as Birmingham secured their first victory over their opponents since 2006.

Albion sent on Andy Carroll in hope of rescuing a point from the contest, but Steve Bruce's side failed to register a shot on target in a lacklustre performance.

The defeat leaves West Brom eight points behind Blackburn in sixth with seven games remaining and with a mountain to climb for an instant return to the Premier League.

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In the opening stages Albion thought they should have been awarded a penalty of their own when it seemed clear that Marc Roberts had handled the ball.

Darnell Furlong's long throw-in was palmed away by the hand of Roberts in the box, but referee Dean Whitestone surprisingly gave the decision the other way, despite protests from the visiting dugout.

Tahith Chong had the first attempt at goal at the end of the first half. Onel Hernandez picked out the 22-year-old with a neat cross-field pass but his strike was deflected wide by Semi Ajayi for a corner after the Dutchman had smartly brought the ball down at the back post.

Juninho Bacuna ensured Sam Johnstone remained alert with a right-footed strike on target in the second half before Kyle Bartley's header was not pounced on by a fellow Albion player early in the second half.

Lee Bowyer suffered another injury blow just short of the hour mark when Chong's lasting injury struggles continued. The winger was forced off due to a hamstring injury and was replaced by Taylor Richards.

The deadlock was finally broken courtesy of Taylor's fourth goal since his January loan move from Nottingham Forest from the penalty spot.

With West Brom applying more pressure, Bacuna's long ball turned defence into attack for the hosts and Hernandez's cross on the byline was handled by Townsend to leave Whitestone no option but to point to the spot.

The visitors came close to an instant reply through former Aston Villa man Callum Robinson. Substitute Grady Diangana set the striker through on goal in the left channel and he looked set to level the scoring, but Kristian Pedersen was there to deflect it wide.

Carroll's chance eventually came in the 87th minute. Another Furlong throw troubled the home side and it landed perfectly for the former England international to head home, but it was squandered and dropped wide.

Despite there being eight minutes of added time, the visitors struggled to carve up one last chance to level the scoring and ended their four-game unbeaten run.

What the managers said...

Birmingham boss Lee Bowyer: "It wasn't pretty. In the first half, both teams didn't put two or three passes together and there was nothing in the game. They edged it in the first half without creating anything. In the second half, we did the same as them, we were on the front foot and were better with second balls.

"I like to look at the positives. We got a clean sheet, they've got a lot of players who can hurt you and we stood up to it. I'm pleased and proud of the players. It's been a long time since we beat West Brom so thankfully we've stopped that rot and it's something the players can be proud of today."

West Brom manager Steve Bruce: "It's got to be the worst game of football I've seen in a long time. We didn't possess any real quality in the top end of the pitch. We had some moments but it lacked quality on both sides.

"After being here for seven weeks, we go up and down. The reason why we're in the middle of the pack in the Championship is because of that. We can play really well against Fulham and that's my biggest disappointment, it's not acceptable. For a team that should be, or supposed to be, at the top end, we go up and down far too often."

What's next?

Birmingham travel to Nottingham Forest in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday, April 9; kick-off at 3pm. Up next for West Brom is a home match against Bournemouth on Wednesday, April 6; kick-off at 8pm.

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