West Brom 2-1 Blackpool: Karlan Grant scores stoppage-time winner as Baggies keep play-off dreams alive

A stoppage-time winner from Karlan Grant saw West Brom keep their faint play-off hopes alive with a 2-1 win at home to Blackpool.

The former Huddersfield forward fired home deep into added time to give Steve Bruce only his fourth win as Baggies boss since replacing the sacked Valerien Ismael in February.

In what overall was a game lacking in quality, Andy Carroll gave West Brom a first-half lead before Marvin Ekpiteta levelled for Blackpool after the restart.

But Grant went on to win it with virtually the last kick of the game to see the Baggies move within five points of the play-offs.

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Prior to kick-off, Bruce opted to leave goalkeeper Sam Johnstone out of his matchday squad with the England international having decided to run down his contract and leave the club at the end of the season.

David Button took his place in goal but he had next to nothing to do in an uneventful first half where clear-cut chances were at a premium.

West Brom almost opened the scoring in the 12th minute when Jayson Molumby tried to curl the ball into the bottom corner from just outside the box. But that strike was smartly kept out by goalkeeper Chris Maxwell, who did well to get down and parry the ball away.

In the 42nd minute, the Baggies did manage to get themselves ahead.

Semi Ajayi sent a long diagonal ball forward that Andy Carroll intelligently flicked into the path of Adam Reach. He whipped in a dangerous cross that the former Newcastle striker diverted in with his knee from close range.

Blackpool got themselves on terms in the 53rd minute. After Dara O'Shea gave away a free-kick on the edge of the box, Kenny Dougall whipped in a dangerous cross which Albion failed to clear and Ekpiteta smashed the ball home from just outside the six-yard box.

West Brom almost got themselves back in front the 75th minute when substitute Taylor Gardner-Hickman let fly with a ferocious strike from 25 yards that beat Maxwell but rattled the crossbar.

Blackpool finally forced Button into a save in the 78th minute when Josh Bowler carried the ball past Matt Clarke and into the box. The Blackpool winger's low drive, though, was easily claimed by the keeper.

In the 93rd minute, though, Albion won it when they sent in a corner that Carroll powerfully struck towards goal. James Husband made a brilliant block just in front of the goal-line but it fell for Grant who made no mistake from just inside the six-yard box.

What the managers said...

West Brom's Steve Bruce: "The gap is five points, which is unbelievable. "It's 'what if?' We are going to ask that all the time. 'What if?' Who knows? In football anything can happen. But I still think we have too much to do. It's still 'what if?' The frustration is there for all to see. When the daffodils come up you start to see strange results. The hardest thing in football is getting over the line. All sorts of nerves come into it.

"All of a sudden the pitches are a bit more lively, the sunshine is out. The difficult part is always getting it done. All the teams are having a wobble. It's pretty normal, that. But we had a wobble for too long so we can only blame ourselves. Whether we deserved it or not is debatable but it's nice to win. The one thing I can say about them is they don't give up. Is it three, four, five times now that we've scored late to win or rescue something? It's always nice to score in the last minute of course and it was a good finish from Granty."

Blackpool's Neil Critchley: "It's a bit deja vu for us. We've had this feeling too many times this season. And if we want to improve then we have to make better use of the opportunities that we create and we have got to stop conceding goals near the end of the games that are decisive. It's happened too many times.

"So did we deserve to lose? Possibly not. But if that happens, like it has done, on too many occasions then you do get what you deserve. Over the course of the season that is why we are where we are. We've come to West Brom and we were right in the game all the way through. But I don't want this feeling."

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