West Bromwich Albion comfortably beat Queens Park Rangers 5-1 with two goals for Kevin Phillips.
Phillips nets brace in comfortable win
West Bromwich Albion comfortably took all three points netting five against struggling Queens Park Rangers at The Hawthorns on Sunday afternoon.
The Baggies dominated from the kick-off in their 5-1 win despite conceding their first goal at home this season, taking them to within one point of leaders Watford.
Ismael Miller, on loan from Manchester City, continually showed his strength making runs from his own half. He played a key role in West Brom's first goal when he floated a ball in from the left, leaving Kevin Phillips to tap it in for his fifth goal this season.
Miller was rewarded with a goal minutes later after West Brom won the ball deep in their half, swiftly passing to Phillips who played Miller through. He slotted the ball around Lee Camp amongst offside appeals in the Rangers defence.
The visitors managed to pull a goal back when a free-kick fell to Dexter Blackstock who rose well to head across goal into the path of Gareth Ainsworth.
But it was West Brom who kept the momentum and added another when Phillips struck the ball superbly from just inside the box, flying into the top corner over Camp's flailing hands.
Adam Bolder looked the liveliest for QPR late into the first half, and produced some good balls into the box, but it was not enough for them to get back into the game.
West Brom kept their dominance into the second half and on 56 minutes, Robert Koren smashed a fabulous goal in from 20 yards after poor clearance attempts by the away side.
Phillips looked determined to secure a hat-trick and seemed likely to after making a darting run into the box, but Camp stayed on his feet to distract the veteran striker who shot wide.
Jonathan Greening added the fifth goal for The Baggies halfway into the second half after poor defending from Rangers. He kept the ball low and belted it into the bottom right corner.
QPR's best chance of the afternoon came from Martin Rowlands. He made a darting run inside and struck it well, but Dean Kiely made his first save of the match, stretching to tip it over the crossbar.
