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West
Bromwich Albion v Bolton Wanderers
The Hawthorns,
West Bromwich. 2nd October 2004, 5.15pm. |
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Match
Preview |
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| Result |
West Bromwich Albion |
2 - 1 |
Bolton Wanderers |
| Scorers |
Nwankwo Kanu (57)
Zoltan Gera (65) |
Stelios Giannakopoulos (73) |
| Attendance |
23,849 |
| Teams |
4-4-2
1 - Russell Hoult (GK)
14 - Martin Albrechtsen
4 - Thomas Gaardsoe
22 - Bernt Haas
5 - Darren Moore
2 - Riccardo Scimeca
8 - Jonathan Greening
10 - Andy Johnson
11 - Zoltan Gera
9 - Geoff Horsfield
25 - Nwankwo Kanu |
4-3-3
(GK) Jussi Jaaskelainen - 22
Tal Ben Haim - 26
Ivan Campo - 16
Radhi Jaidi - 15
Bruno N'Gotty - 5
Ricardo Gardner - 11
Kevin Nolan - 4
Jay-Jay Okocha - 10
Gary Speed - 6
Les Ferdinand - 23
Henrik Pedersen - 9 |
| Substitutes |
29 - Tomasz Kuszczak (GK)
16 - Cosmin Contra
18 - Lloyd Dyer
23 - James O'Connor
34 - Robert Earnshaw |
(GK) Andy Oakes - 13
Anthony Barness - 2
Stelios Giannakopoulos - 7
Blessing Kaku - 24
El-Hadji Diouf - 21 |
| Substitutions |
L Dyer for M Albrechtsen
(81) |
E Diouf for J Okocha
(34)
S Giannakopoulos for H Pedersen (58)
B Kaku for I Campo (65) |
| Yellow Cards |
None |
None |
| Red Cards |
None |
None |
| Referee |
M Clattenburg (Northumberland) |
Albion's first win
of the season was much deserved and reasonably comfortable, although
they managed to make it a little exciting towards the end by conceding
a silly goal, but let's hope this is the catalyst that gets the
team going.
The absences of Darren Purse, Paul Robinson and Neil Clement were
barely noticed as their replacements all put in good solid performances.
Big Dave was a rock at the back as he has been in the past and,
although there were moments when you had to hold your breath in
anticipation of him being outpaced or losing control, he didn't
let the side down and put in a skipper's performance. Martin Albrechtsen
is developing into an impressive left back (good call from my Dad
after the Liverpool game), and his stoic display was all the more
remarkable given that he was apparently suffering from a minor illness.
Scimeca moved into midfield and produced the kind of form that we
know he is capable of, and perhaps most surprising of all, was Bernie.
When I received the text message informing me of the starting line-up,
me and all around me were bemused to see the Swiss international
back in the starting line-up. However, although his distribution
was wayard at times, he defended very well and made some impressive
forays up the right wing.
In all honesty, Bolton were very disappointing for a side fourth
in the table at kick-off. Jay Jay was obviously not as fit as he
claimed to be, and managed only 34 minutes before he was replaced
by Diouf. The Senegal international must be disillusioned - having
been played out of position on the wing at Liverpool, he must have
finally thought he'd got his chance with a loan move to Bolton,
only for Big Sam to play him on the wing!!
Apart from the first few minutes when the Albion players looked
hesitant, they dominated the first half. Gera was in the starting
line-up in place of Koumas, and he was determined to take his chance.
He fired in a shot to worry Jaaskelainen early on, had a volley
deflected over and tried his luck with an overhead kick that N'Gotty
managed to deflect away with his head.
Big Dave was marshalling the veteran Ferdinand well, and when he
did have an opportunity, the old man Les made a complete hash of
a volley. Greening had an opportunity at the other end, but the
ball just wouldn't drop quick enough for him to get the volley on
target.
Albion nearly paid for missed chances when Gardner got away from
Haas and fired in a shot that Hoult could only parry. Nolan reacted
first but could only find the post from an acute angle.
Just before the break, good pressure from Kanu brought the mistake
from N'Gotty and Gera latched onto the loose ball, skipped past
two challenges before firing an left foot shot inches wide.
The second half started with Albion still on the attack. Gera went
close again when his header was blocked. Eleven minutes into the
half, a clearance from the Bolton area was played first time by
Moore to Gera on the right wing. He turned inside and fired in an
exquisite ball for Kanu, just on side, who somehow adjusted his
feet to deflect the ball past Jaaskelainen to give the Baggies a
deserved lead.
For once, Albion did the right thing and elected to push home their
advantage. A free kick from wide on the left was met by Gera's head
and he found the net at the near post to double the Baggies' lead.
Eight minutes later, the prospects of a first ever Baggies victory
by more than a one goal margin were much reduced when substitute
Stelios whipped in a curling free kick that eluded everyone and
found the net to bring the score back to 2-1. Whether Hoult had
called, I'm not sure, but Big Dave certainly gave him an earfull.
Cue tense finish - well no. There was very little penetration from
Bolton as the Baggies held out with relative ease. One shot flew
just past the post, but there was very little else to trouble the
jubliant Albion fans as they cheered the team out of the bottom
three.
As it turned out, Koumas was dropped before an injury forced him
out of the sixteen, and Gera took his chance will relish. Megson
may hold back from playing the two of them together, but Gera with
an on-form Koumas would give us fantastic options, but admittedly
could leave us a little lightweight in the middle of the park.
So the win is there, the first one in front of the live cameras
in the Premiership, and it's now time to kick on. Norwich and Palace
are the next two games, both winable, and if that could be achieved
the table would look a lot more healthy.
Marks
Russell Hoult - 5 - Not the assured hands we used to know.
Martin Albrechtsen - 7 - Solid performance
Thomas Gaardsoe - 7 - Dare I say outshone by his partner? Good display
nonetheless.
Bernt Haas - 7 - Decent performance, although I'd like to see Contra
given another chance.
Darren Moore - 8 - Excellent performance.
Riccardo Scimeca - 7 - Accomplished display, did little wrong.
Jonathan Greening - 7 - Another good performance.
Andy Johnson - 7 - Did little wrong, worked hard.
Zoltan Gera - 9 - MOM. Outstanding.
Geoff Horsfield - 6 - Worked hard but never looked dangerous; looks
to be lacking confidence.
Nwankwo Kanu - 8 - Excellent display.
Lloyd Dyer - 6 - Not on very long; one marauding run.
Gary Megson - 8 - Despite my misgivings on seeing the line-up, Gary
got it right. His players did what were asked of them, and it showed
in that he only made one subsitution to replace Albrechtsen who
was ill.
Jon Want, 4th October 2004.
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