by
West Bromwich Albion’s resurgence under Carlos Corberan continued as they beat Reading for an eighth win in their last nine Championship matches.
Conor Townsend’s header from a sixth-minute corner hit the base of the post as the Baggies had four excellent chances to score in the opening 10 minutes.
It took an hour for West Brom to finally break the deadlock thanks to Daryl Dike’s diving header.
Lucas Joao almost equalised with five minutes left, but his shot from the edge of the box was deflected just over the crossbar before Baba Rahman headed the resulting corner agonisingly over.
The victory – which has seen the Baggies take 24 points from a possible 30 since Corberan took over from Steve Bruce as head coach in October – sees West Brom move to within a point of the play-off places, having been bottom of the table when he took charge.
More to follow.
Line-ups
West Brom
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 24Palmer
- 2Furlong
- 4O’Shea
- 15PietersSubstituted forAjayiat 88′minutes
- 3Townsend
- 14Molumby
- 35Yokuslu
- 17J WallaceSubstituted forGardner-Hickmanat 89′minutes
- 19SwiftSubstituted forRogicat 66′minutesBooked at 76mins
- 10PhillipsSubstituted forDianganaat 57′minutes
- 12DikeSubstituted forThomas-Asanteat 66′minutes
Substitutes
- 1Button
- 6Ajayi
- 7Rogic
- 11Diangana
- 18Grant
- 21Thomas-Asante
- 29Gardner-Hickman
Reading
Formation 3-1-4-2
- 1LumleyBooked at 56mins
- 17Yiadom
- 6Dann
- 5McIntyreBooked at 47mins
- 22Loum
- 23HoilettBooked at 51minsSubstituted forMbengueat 58′minutesBooked at 75mins
- 10Ince
- 8HendrickSubstituted forAzeezat 82′minutes
- 18Guinness-WalkerSubstituted forBabaat 72′minutes
- 2CarrollSubstituted forLucas Joãoat 72′minutes
- 11MeiteSubstituted forLongat 72′minutes
Substitutes
- 7Long
- 9Lucas João
- 12Baba
- 15Azeez
- 21Bouzanis
- 24Sarr
- 27Mbengue
- Referee:
- Tom Nield
- Attendance:
- 25,322
Live Text
-
Match ends, West Bromwich Albion 1, Reading 0.
-
Second Half ends, West Bromwich Albion 1, Reading 0.
-
Attempt missed. Femi Azeez (Reading) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
-
Hand ball by Tom Ince (Reading).
-
Foul by Brandon Thomas-Asante (West Bromwich Albion).
-
Mamadou Loum (Reading) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
-
Offside, West Bromwich Albion. Brandon Thomas-Asante tries a through ball, but Taylor Gardner-Hickman is caught offside.
-
Substitution, West Bromwich Albion. Taylor Gardner-Hickman replaces Jed Wallace.
-
Substitution, West Bromwich Albion. Semi Ajayi replaces Erik Pieters because of an injury.
-
Attempt missed. Mamadou Loum (Reading) header from very close range is too high. Assisted by Shane Long with a headed pass following a corner.
-
Corner, Reading. Conceded by Conor Townsend.
-
Attempt missed. Scott Dann (Reading) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Femi Azeez with a cross following a corner.
-
Corner, Reading. Conceded by Dara O’Shea.
-
Attempt blocked. Lucas João (Reading) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Tom McIntyre.
-
Foul by Erik Pieters (West Bromwich Albion).
-
Lucas João (Reading) wins a free kick on the right wing.
-
Substitution, Reading. Femi Azeez replaces Jeff Hendrick.
-
Attempt missed. Brandon Thomas-Asante (West Bromwich Albion) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Jed Wallace with a cross.
-
Foul by Jayson Molumby (West Bromwich Albion).
-
Tom Ince (Reading) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
