Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between West Bromwich Albion and Hull City at The Hawthorns as Steve Bruce's side earned their first victory of the season in emphatic fashion.
Saturday 20 August 2022 18:57, UK
West Brom earned their first win of the season with a 5-2 victory over early high-flyers Hull at The Hawthorns.
An own goal by Callum Elder set Steve Bruce's side on their way against one of his former clubs then quick goals at the start of the second half from John Swift and Darnell Furlong, before Karlan Grant's penalty and Dara O'Shea sealed a welcome three points for the Baggies.
Hull's miserable day started with the early exit of striker Ozan Tufan to an injury and got worse after that, hitting the woodwork twice.
The Tigers created the first chance when Tufan's firm drive from 20 yards was saved by goalkeeper David Button down low to his left.
Turkish forward Tufan limped off in the 21st minute following an innocuous challenge from Furlong near the touchline.
Albion wasted two chances just before the half-hour. Grant's angled shot was blocked and from the loose ball, Furlong screwed well wide.
Then Grady Diangana hooked over the bar and wide at the far post from Jed Wallace's hanging cross, before Oscar Estupinan went close to giving Hull the breakthrough in the 35th minute.
The Colombian forward latched onto Ryan Woods' clever through ball and launched a rising shot which Button palmed onto the bar, the ball bouncing back to the grateful goalkeeper.
Albion responded by taking a 37th-minute lead, albeit in fortunate circumstances.
A cross from Furlong flicked off Jacob Greaves and hit Elder in the midriff before sailing past helpless goalkeeper Matt Ingram.
Swift made it 2-0 in the 48th minute with a low drive across Ingram into the far bottom corner of the net.
Seven minutes later Albion extended their lead with a low, angled shot from Furlong after a square pass from O'Shea.
Furlong's effort came after Albion laid siege to Hull's goal, with Swift's free-kick palmed away by Ingram, then Swift and Diangana seeing shots blocked.
Against the run of play, Randell Williams became the second Hull player to hit the bar, this time with a dipping left-footed shot that beat Button and dipped at the last moment.
One-way traffic resumed at the other end and Grant netted in the 70th minute, from the spot, curling low to Ingram's left after Lewie Coyle trod on Conor Townsend.
Estupinan pulled one back for Hull when he tapped home Benjamin Tetteh's cross following Elder's long ball on 77.
Diangana then cut inside and drilled a shot against the post, but O'Shea restored Albion's four-goal cushion with a diving header following a cross from the right in the 85th minute.
Estupinan grabbed Hull's second on 90 with a neat finish after Tetteh's neat turn and pass put him clean through.
West Brom's Steve Bruce: "That's the best I've seen Grady play. The biggest challenge for me when I walked through the door was to get him playing well again. He's had a big summer and has worked tirelessly in the gym, but he's loves his football.
"We know his talent. People come here today and they purred at some of the stuff he did. He gets you on the edge of your seat and there's not many who can do that, and he does it with natural ability. When he plays well, like he did here, we're a bigger threat. We have to keep him there, keep him right and if so, we have a player again."
Hull's Shota Arveladze: "We knew at 4-0 behind we wanted to do something to make it less hard and less painful. When you make it 5-1 it looks very bad so 5-2 gives some reaction, which, if you want to find something positive, gives us that feeling. They were better than us and we have to accept that, especially in the second half. We had a bit of the play in the first half an hour, but they played better than us, they played forward more.
"In the second half, they scored the second goal then got a third and we couldn't stay in the game. They had one day less to prepare - they played on Wednesday - so we should have looked fitter than them, but we didn't."
