West Brom should have stopped Sofiane Boufal, says Tony Pulis
Saturday 21 October 2017 21:30, UK
Tony Pulis was disappointed West Brom did not stop Sofiane Boufal before he scored a superb individual goal to give Southampton victory at St Mary's.
The substitute struck the winner in the 85th minute after spinning away from two West Brom players deep inside his own half.
Boufal then ran 70 yards, skipping past Jake Livermore, slipping between Allan Nyom and Craig Dawson as the duo ran into each other, stepping around Gareth McAuley and curling the ball past Ahmed Hegazi and inside the far post.
"People will say it's a great goal but he's gone past four or five players," said Pulis. "At least two of them should have done better."
West Brom, who have now won just two of their last 18 Premier League matches, were largely on the back foot and created few chances.
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However, Jay Rodriguez spurned a good opportunity on his return to St Mary's when he was played through and fired wide with the game goalless.
"It's disappointing," said Pulis. "I thought in the first half they dominated possession and had a couple of good chances, but in the second half we changed it and we were much more competitive.
"We had the best chance of the game with Jay, if we score that we probably go and win the game. And then the kid scores a special goal.
"I wasn't happy with a couple of challenges, but people will say that's over-critical."
Pulis was also left with injury worries over Jonny Evans and Craig Dawson, who will undergo scans on Sunday.
Evans' groin injury will be of particular concern to Northern Ireland with the first leg of their World Cup play-off against Switzerland just 19 days away.