West Bromwich Albion vs Ipswich Town. Sky Bet Championship.
The HawthornsAttendance23,973.
West Brom's poor run at home continues against bottom club Ipswich.
Sunday 10 March 2019 10:42, UK
Darren Moore was sacked a couple of hours after their 1-1 draw with Ipswich in the Sky Bet Championship.
Ipswich had been staring down the barrel of defeat after on-loan Fulham midfielder Stefan Johansen had given Albion a fourth-minute lead with a deflected free-kick.
But Nolan headed home a 48th-minute leveller to deal a fresh blow to Albion's automatic promotion hopes as their problems in front of their own fans continued, leading the club to make the decision to part company with Moore.
A club statement read: "Albion have tonight parted company with the Club's Head Coach Darren Moore. Assistants Graeme Jones and Wayne Jacobs have also been relieved of their duties.
"The Club took the decision after a disappointing run of results which has seen Albion lose ground in the challenge for automatic promotion from the Sky Bet Championship. Albion have won just four of their last 12 league games and suffered defeats by fellow promotion contenders."
Albion have not won at home in the league since Boxing Day and have now only collected one victory in their last nine Championship matches in front of their own fans.
The point for Ipswich made it four 1-1 draws from their last five games and they look to be headed for almost certain relegation.
Albion made a flying start to the clash, albeit in somewhat fortuitous circumstances.
Ipswich defender Myles Kenlock put Town in trouble with a misplaced header that let Albion striker Dwight Gayle head towards goal.
Gayle was upended on the edge of the area by Jonas Knudsen and from the resulting free-kick, Johansen's shot struck Knudsen before flying into the bottom of the net with goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski left flat-footed.
It would have been easy for struggling Ipswich to fold after that early setback, but they quickly regrouped and had two chances to equalise before 10 minutes had passed with Gwion Edwards having a shot blocked and skipper Luke Chambers firing over the bar.
Bialkowski produced a stunning one-handed save to tip away a low drive from Jacob Murphy in the 21st minute before Ipswich suffered further frustration in front of goal.
First Chambers stabbed wide from a corner and then striker Collin Quaner was picked out in the area by Nolan only to see his fierce shot beaten out by goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.
Bialkowski then ensured the visitors stayed in the match with two more stunning saves three minutes before half-time.
He denied Murphy by tipping his shot behind for a corner and from the resulting cross he kept out a header from Tosin Adarabioyo.
Ipswich made the most of those heroics from Bialkowski at the start of the second half when they drew level.
Alan Judge fed the ball back to James Bree and his floated cross was met by Nolan whose header from 14 yards dropped just inside Johnstone's near post.
Bialkowski continued to keep Albion at bay with a one-handed close-range save from Gayle in the 65th minute before a rapid Ipswich break 60 seconds later saw Johnstone block a shot from substitute Kayden Jackson.
Jackson saw another effort saved by Johnstone after 79 minutes as Ipswich pressed for a shock win, but the points were shared in the end
Darren Moore: "How teams have been setting up here against us and making it difficult for us it is up to us to find ways around it. Nobody is going to give West Bromwich Albion the right to win. We have to go and earn it and find it. So we continue trying to work towards that.
"We scored the goal early doors and got a really great start and we just couldn't get the all important second goal. Their 'keeper played well and pulled off some good saves. If we had got the second goal it would have been a real uphill task for them."
Paul Lambert: "We have been playing really well. I thought that we were the better team and that we deserved to win. We could have have been 3-1, 4-1. We had so many chances. The way we played, passing the ball and the courage to take the ball.
"We have got some really good young players and we don't look like a team at the bottom that's for sure. The club is in a really good place. For the future we had to have the infrastructure which I don't think was there. It is just building the club again but there are some really, really good players. We could be a real top side if they develop."
