West Brom remain rooted to the foot of the table after slipping to a late 1-0 defeat to Stoke City.
Sidibe strikes to keep Baggies bottom of the pile
West Brom remain rooted to the foot of the Premier League table after slipping to a late 1-0 defeat to Stoke City at The Britannia.
Chances were few and far between but with just six minutes left in the game The Potters secured the victory through Mamady Sidibe in the best move of the match.
Danny Higginbotham played a one-two with substitute Michael Tonge before standing up a teasing left-wing cross that Sidibe headed back across goal into the back of the net.
Sidebe had one of the better chances of the first half when his long-range effort was tipped over by Scott Carson, while Ishmael Miller's volley was just over Stoke's crossbar.
Stoke continued to press in the second half and their perseverance and pressure finally paid off in the 84th minute when Sidibe headed home what could be a priceless three-point haul.
In the absence of suspended top scorer Ricardo Fuller, Sidibe showed early signs of giving the away defence a stern aerial test.
Indeed, he left Abdoulaye Meite sprawling on the turf with a fair challenge after seven minutes as both men looked to collect a long ball.
Rory Delap had got an early chance to arrow in a trademark long throw a minute later and while West Brom looked far from comfortable, the threat passed.
Stretchered off
Dave Kitson, meanwhile, lasted just 10 minutes and was stretchered off with a knee injury, Richard Cresswell his replacement.
Carson started well, beating away Sidibe's well-struck shot from 25 yards.
The hosts looked more dangerous in attack but lacked a cutting edge - Higginbotham failing to beat the first defender with a low cross, despite having time and space on his side following a measured Delap lay-off.
Albion offered little of note in the opening third of the game, lone striker Miller looking increasingly isolated up front.
He did, though, serve notice of his threat after half-an-hour, collecting a loose ball just outside the area and hitting a dipping, first-time effort just over the crossbar.
At the other end, Delap flashed wildly off-target with a hopeful strike of his own.
The Irishman had a series of throw-in opportunities, but Tony Mowbray's side handled the danger, which has served Stoke so well this term, competently.
Cresswell appealed half-heartedly for a penalty when he was strong-armed off the ball by a combination of Jonas Olsson and Meite, but was rightly turned down.
Carson acted quickly to sweep the visitors' lines moments into the second half, rushing out of his penalty area and sliding the ball back towards halfway.
Alert again
And the former Liverpool keeper was again alert after 52 minutes, getting down well to gather Soares' drilled attempt from 18 yards.
West Brom were struggling to get a foothold in proceedings until Miller again tried his luck from an unlikely position. This time his chipped shot lurched high towards the far post, forcing Thomas Sorensen to concede a corner.
Carson, with the taunts of Potters fans ringing out after he turned down a summer move to the Britannia Stadium, fumbled a Delap cross from the left with an hour gone, but Greening was on hand to hoof clear.
The Albion skipper was soon involved going forward again, squaring calmly to Miller on the six-yard line. Miller went down with Abdoulaye Faye in attendance but was himself penalised for pushing.
Substitute Tonge was next to test Carson, in what was fast becoming a nervy time for 23-year-old. He spilled the shot but regained possession before Sidibe arrived.
Stoke broke swiftly down the right with 20 minutes left and although Olsson did well to head the cross away from Cresswell, there were strong shouts for a foul on Sidibe, who was sent tumbling six yards from goal.
The game descended into tetchiness in the final stages, with both sides betraying a lack of discipline and there was a lengthy stoppage after Ryan Shawcross went down injured.
Andy Griffin nearly handed the Baggies a goal when he was caught napping by Filipe Teixeira, but after cutting into the box the Portuguese midfielder shot wastefully high and wide. It proved a costly miss.
With six minutes left Higginbotham found space on the overlap and drifted a cross high to the far post. West Brom were not short of numbers in the box but Sidibe rose almost unchallenged to head across Carson and into the corner.
| Stoke City |
Team Statistics |
West Bromwich Albion |
| 1 |
Goals |
0 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 7 |
Shots on Target |
1 |
| 2 |
Shots off Target |
6 |
| 1 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 4 |
Corners |
1 |
| 11 |
Fouls |
9 |
| 5 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 68.8 |
Passing Success |
77.8 |
| 13 |
Tackles |
23 |
| 84.6 |
Tackles Success |
69.6 |
| 41.6 |
Possession |
58.4 |
| 51.5 |
Territorial Advantage |
48.5 |
|
