Saturday 12th September 2015, Barclays Premier League, The Hawthorns, Kick-Off 3:00pm |
|
West Bromwich Albion |
0 - 0 |
Southampton |
|
0 - 0 |
|
|
|
|
|
Managers |
|
Tony Pulis |
|
Ronald Koeman |
|
|
|
|
Starting XI |
|
Boaz Myhill |
|
Maarten Stekelenburg |
Craig Dawson |
|
Cédric Soares (Yoshida 75) |
Gareth McAuley |
|
José Fonte (c) |
(Olsson 86) Jonny Evans |
|
Virgil van Dijk |
Chris Brunt |
|
Matt Targett |
Craig Gardner |
|
Victor Wanyama |
(c) Darren Fletcher |
|
James Ward-Prowse |
Claudio Yacob |
|
Steven Davis |
(McClean 61) Callum McManaman |
|
Jay Rodriguez (Mané 67) |
(Berahino 55) Rickie Lambert |
|
Dušan Tadić |
Salomón Rondón |
|
Graziano Pellè |
|
Substitutes |
|
Jonas Olsson |
|
Maya Yoshida |
James McClean |
|
Sadio Mané |
Saido Berahino |
|
Kelvin Davis (gk) |
(gk) Anders Lindegaard |
|
Shane Long |
James Chester |
|
Oriol Romeu |
James Morrison |
|
Juanmi |
Serge Gnabry |
|
Steven Caulker |
|
Bookings |
|
(foul 79) Brunt |
|
|
|
|
Attendance:
24,265 |
|
Referee:
Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire) |
Assistant 01:
Mark Scholes (Buckinghamshire) |
Assistant 02:
Jake Collin (Merseyside) |
Fourth Official:
Mike Dean (Wirral) |
|
|
Official Matchday
Programme |
|
|
Price:
£3.50
Pages: 84 Issue: 04 |
|
NOTES |
|
●
Jonny Evans makes his Albion debut. |
MATCH REPORT
Saido Berahino returned for West
Brom but failed to inspire the Baggies during a dire goalless draw with
Southampton. The forward was given a mixed reception as a second-half
substitute following his strike threat on transfer deadline day. His
introduction briefly lit up a dour game as the Baggies slugged out a forgettable
0-0 draw with the Saints at The Hawthorns. However, Berahino found some
Albion fans were unforgiving
after he tried to force through a move to Tottenham on transfer deadline day.
Like his team-mates, Berahino
struggled to create while Jay Rodriguez wasted the visitors' best chance in the
first half. Virgil van Dijk was dominant on his debut for Southampton while
Jonny Evans was assured on his Baggies bow following his arrival from Manchester
United. Rickie Lambert, Chris Brunt and Callum McManaman returned for the hosts
while Rodriguez and Victor Wanyama started for the Saints. And defences were on
top from the start as the sides settled into a mundane rhythm which rarely
looked like changing. Boaz Myhill, now under pressure from Anders Lindegaard
who was named on the Albion bench after joining from Manchester United, claimed Graziano
Pelle's early effort. McManaman was the brightest spark in a pedestrian opening
and wanted a penalty when he went down under Matt Targett's challenge but his
appeals went unrewarded. It was a rare flashpoint during the first period, which
lacked quality and tension as Salomon Rondon and Lambert, against his former
club, laboured for Albion. Craig Dawson headed over but Saints goalkeeper Maarten
Stekelenburg remained untroubled as ex-Celtic defender Van Dijk kept a lid on
Albion's stilted attacks.
But Rodriguez should have broken the monotony nine minutes before the break when
he wriggled ahead of Dawson and planted a six-yard header wide from Dusan Tadic's fine
cross.
It was the best chance of a limp
first half and Southampton emerged for the second with renewed purpose as Tadic
threatened. Myhill claimed Rodriguez's deflected effort before Berahino returned
for Lambert, who failed to make any impact, on 55 minutes just after Rondon shot
over when well placed. It briefly raised the noise levels and expectations -
showing the 22-year-old may be able to win round the doubters - but did little
for the game. James Ward-Prowse's wayward effort flew over on 65 minutes and
Sadio Mane was off target 10 minutes later. Pelle's tame strike rolled straight
to Myhill as Southampton finished on top but never looked like scoring.
Sporting Life
|