BAGGIES RUB ‘ZOLT’ INTO SUNDERLAND WOUNDS WITH LAST GASP STRIKE AT STADIUM OF LIGHT!!!

A last gasp header from Zoltan Gera saved Albion’s blushes as they were within seconds from going down to their fourth successive defeat. Sunderland had taken an early lead when Gary Breen powered a header past Kirkland and it looked likely the Mackems would hold out for their first Premiership victory of the season until Hungarian star Zoltan Gera leapt like a salmon to head in a corner from Diomansy Kamara to nick a point for the Baggies.

The game began with Sunderland on the attack as they went searching for an early goal that would calm their nerves. In the seventh minute it arrived as Dean Whitehead swept in a dangerous right-footed corner which was met by ex-Blues defender Gary Breen who rocketed a header past Kirkland and into the roof of the net. Neil Clement then almost gifted the Black Cats a two goal lead when his short ball fell straight to the feet of Stuart Elliott, the little Irish man teed up Julio Arca but luckily for Albion the Argentinian missed his kick and Davies was able to sweep up and clear away the danger.

Albion finally created their first chance when Zoltan Gera fired in a right footed shot from just outside the box but keeper Davis did well to hold onto the ball. At the other end Kirkland was then forced into action comfortably saving a Dean Whitehead 20 yard effort. Jonathan Greening then missed a golden chance to level the scores, the ex-Middlesbrough man somehow slicing a left foot shot over the bar with the goal gaping after a lovely move between Earnshaw and Watson had setup the opportunity.

Neil Clement sent a curling left footed free kick from 20 yards out just over the bar as the Baggies finished the half strongly. Earnshaw was even closer when he raced onto a flick on from Kevin Campbell but his first time shot whisked wide of Davis’ left hand post. Greening then clipped in a dangerous left footed cross but Sunderland keeper Davis was on hand to palm the ball away to safety.

Half Time: Sunderland 1-0 Albion

Mick McCarthy made two early changes with Liam Lawrence and Anthony Le Tallec replacing Tommy Miller and Stuart Elliott. Albion were struggling to trouble the Black Cats defence and almost paid the price as at the other end Whitehead let fly with a right footed shot but Kirkland was equal to it to make the save before Watson cleared away the danger as Gray looked to steal in from the rebound.

Substitute Anthony Le Tallec came within inches of increasing the host’s lead when he struck a fierce free kick towards goal but Kirkland did well to hold onto the ball. Albion’s failure to even get near Sunderland’s goal persuaded Robson to make the first change of the afternoon as Senegal forward Diomansy Kamara entered the field to replace Jonathan Greening.

The change had hardly made any effect before Julio Arca hit a left rocket from 25 yards out however the ball whistled well wide of Kirkland’s left hand upright. Kamara soon began to sparkle for the Baggies though as he outpaced the Mackems defence following an Earnshaw through ball but the former Pompey striker let fly with a left shot which sailed just over the bar.

Moments later Albion made their second change when Nathan Ellington came on to replace Welshman Earnshaw, the change almost had an immediate effect as the former Wigan man cut inside Breen before rifling a right footed shot towards the bottom corner of the net which Davis did superbly to tip behind for a corner. As the clock ticked into injury time Nyron Nosworthy was on goal line duty to tremendously head away a Wallwork goalbound header after keeper Davis had fluffed a Robinson left wing cross. Despite the heroics it was not enough to prevent Robson’s men from snatching last gasp equaliser when Zoltan Gera climbed highest to head into the back of the net following a Kamara corner-kick.

Full Time: Sunderland 1-1 Albion

MAN OF THE MATCH: Zoltan Gera

PLAYER RATINGS OUT OF TEN

Kirkland 6 - Made a couple of smart saves to keep us in the game, however worryingly static for the goal.
Watson 5 - Another poor performance by Watson, his distribution was awful at times. His only good thing in the game was setting up Greening for the miss of the match.    
Davies 7 - After a very shaky start, the lad soon looked composed at the back and in the end had a solid debut.
Clement 6 - Also started off shaky but once Davies was playing well he followed suit.
Robinson 7 - Normal Robbo, no messing when defending, crunching challenges and good distribution.
Gera 8 - Best performance of the season by a distance, certainly deserved his goal as he was the only one that looked like scoring or creating something throughout the majority of the game.
Wallwork 6 - Got better as the game progressed but still not the Wallwork of last season by far.
Johnson 5 - As always ran his heart out but his passing was awful, even against Sunderland he still looked way out of his depth.
Greening 6 - Dangerous on occasions but missed an absolute sitter just before half time to equalise.
Campbell 5 - Won hardly anything in the air, was never a presence and I honestly think his time as a Premiership striker is running out.  
Earnshaw 6 - Although his all round game was poor, he showed glimpses of danger and was unlucky not to score on a couple of occasions.

SUBS:
Kamara 7 - Absolute livewire when he came on, caused problems with his pace and was unlucky not to score, created the equaliser with a superb corner.
Ellington 6 - Still doesn’t look match fit but even an unfit Ellington looked dangerous and was unlucky not to score.

REF WATCH

Richard Beeby 8 - One of the best refereeing performances I have seen for a long time, always in control of the game and made some excellent decisions when called upon.

FAN WATCH

Albion 5 - Poor atmosphere for a while because of the way we were playing which is no surprise but it did lighten up at times.
Sunderland 6 - Got behind their team at important times but not overly supportive of the side.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Thank you Zoltan Gera for that last minute goal because without that we would have been going home with nothing and to be honest it would have probably been deserved for the performance we put in. Daylight robbery was my first impression but having seen the game again on football first we did miss some good chances and on another day could quite easily have won the game. The performance itself was poor and we failed to get any real grip on the game until Kamara came on and caused them no end of problems. I thought Curtis Davies had a solid debut though after starting shaky, he seemed more composed as the game went on and he and Clement looked really good together at times so hopefully that’s our defensive partnership sorted for now.

Watson was dreadful again and I just don’t see why Albrechtsen didn’t start as he is a far better player than him. At least with Albrechtsen you have pace and he can actually catch up with the strikers or midfield players but with Watson there is nothing, not even the ability to pass the ball as he seems to just hoof the ball at every opportunity. I was very pleased with Diomansy Kamara’s introduction from the bench as I thought he was lively and caused them all sorts of problems with his pace, perhaps if we had started with him we might well have picked up maximum points. Zoltan Gera was also back to his best and fully deserved his goal so hopefully he can now kick on from here as well.

I do worry about the team in general though as Robson still does not seem to know his starting eleven. Junichi Inamoto was once again not even included in the squad which I just don’t understand as he is far better than Johnson and maybe even Wallwork at the moment. He’s played one game and that was at Man City where he looked very good, has there been a bust up between the two or is it just Robson does not rate him when most of the supporters I have spoken to seem to think he could be our best central midfielder at the club.