Blackburn Rovers continued to spiral out of control, as they failed to assert their New Year’s Resolution of “improvement”, as a disputed hattrick by former attacking target, Brandon Thomas-Asante, left Rovers for dead, as the Baggies ran out comfortable 4-1 winners.
As Rovers looked to build on their FA Cup Third Round victory, last week, which saw them beat Cambridge United, 5-2, to set up a mouth-watering Fourth Round clash with Wrexham, Jon Dahl Tomasson made three changes from last Saturday’s side; two of which were enforced. Harry Pickering and FA Cup hattrick hero, Sammie Szmodics both dropped out of the side due to illness, as Sondre Tronstad and Harry Leonard came in to replace them. A third Rovers alteration saw Scott Wharton return from injury – with Semir Telalović benched – in a defensive rejig that saw Hayden Carter move out to right-back, whilst Callum Brittain propped up at left-back. There was some positive news for Rovers, as Aynsley Pears, Joe Rankin-Costello and Sam Gallagher were all available from the substitutes bench after recovering from injury. There was cause for celebration for Adam Wharton, who was making his 50th career appearance, in the Midlands.
As 3pm approached, Jake Garrett got the ball rolling on referee, Stephen Martin’s whistle, as Rovers were aiming to finally cull their diabolical run of results.
Just three minutes into the tie, Rovers thought they’d taken an early lead after Garrett’s composed chip over Alex Palmer nestled into the net, but that was only after the assistant referee had spent a few seconds waving his offside flag in the air.
Moments later, Tom Fellows was looking to cause Rovers problems by twisting and turning before delivering a cross for Adam Reach to try and nod home, but Leopold Wahlstedt made a fine, but comfortable save to stop him.
Disaster soon struck for Rovers after just 11 minutes, as a Darnell Furlong long-throw from near the corner flag cause panic in the Rovers defence, as the ball dropped inside the six-yard-box, closest to Wahlstedt who misjudged the flight of the ball as it bounced clear of anybody in a ‘highlighter yellow’ shirt before Fellows had the easiest job to edge ahead of Sondre Tronstad and nod the ball into a virtually empty net to not only put Albion 1-0 up after 11 minutes, but net his second goal in as many games and his first in the league, following his first professional goal, which came in Albion’s 4-1 win over Aldershot Town, last week, in the FA Cup.
Ten minutes later, Rovers were exposed again as John Swift’s run beyond the Rovers backline saw him try and hit a first-time volley over his shoulder, but he lacked any accuracy to trouble Wahlstedt.
From the goal-kick, in the 22nd minute, Rovers got the ball up-field as Arnór Sigurðsson nodded it into Garrett’s path. The midfielder showed great control and awareness to flick the ball over his head and create a half-chance with a half-volley, but the ball dropped wide of the mark.
In the 28th minute, Garrett was again Rovers’ brightest spark in an attacking sense, as he looked to try and assist Adam Wharton during the latter’s milestone appearance, but the youngster’s shot deflected off a Baggies body and fell into the palms of Palmer.
Things soon went from bad to worse for Rovers as a double whammy inside three minutes, saw Albion’s advantage suddenly treble from 1-0 to 3-0, as Rovers well and truly shot themselves in the foot over some calamitous defending, as Brandon Thomas-Asante grabbed – what could quite possibly be – the quickest brace of his professional career.
The goal for 2-0 saw West Brom take advantage of Rovers switching off, as they took a free-kick from inside their own half as the ball was clipped into the Rovers half, with the visitors all at sea. Dominic Hyam, despite being under minimal pressure from a home shirt, somehow managed to angle a header into the path of Thomas-Asante who was facing up against a twisted Callum Brittain. The attacker drove forwards to create a shooting angle as he moved the ball into his stride, just outside the penalty area and shot across goal, as the ball nutmegged Brittain and evaded the outstretched arms of Wahlstedt to nestle just inside the far-post to double the Albion’s lead.
Not three minutes had gone by, before the scoreboard was being updated to 3-0, inside 33 minutes as the lively Thomas-Asante grabbed his second of the afternoon. A short corner from the home side saw two Rovers bodies attracted to the ball, which left Alex Mowatt with half of the Hawthorns, on the edge of the area, to decide his next move. The former Leeds United midfielder opted to strike a low shot at goal which moved through many bodies and possibly deflecting off a Rovers man, before being palmed away by a reactionary Wahlstedt, into the path of Thomas-Asante, who only needed to bundle the ball into the back of the net before wheeling away in celebration; despite the goal officially being credited as a Dominic Hyam own goal.
Despite Rovers looking well and truly beaten just after half-an-hour had been played, they tried to push forwards down the right-hand side in the 40th minute, as Andrew Moran glided forwards, before a crash with a flying Kyle Bartley stopped the Irishman in his tracks. Although the tackle by Bartley looked rather reckless, he was only booked for his troubles.
Moments later his defensive partner – and another one-time Rovers target – Cédric Kipré brought down Harry Leonard on the edge of the box, but the free-kick from Adam Wharton went straight into the wall. Despite the chance remaining alive, the young midfielder and Leonard again combined as the former crossed from a wide position for the latter, but Leonard’s header dropped wide of the target.
Whilst the hosts continued to push during the four added minutes that the refereeing team added, the half-time whistle was soon met by boos and jeers from an away end of over 1,300 Rovers fans that included ex-goalkeeper and now Premier League star, Thomas Kaminski, who had his name sung during spells in the first period.
At the break, Carlos Corberán would have been blown away with how quickly and clinically his side had burst out of the traps. They left Rovers with no room to breath during the first-half as they managed to effectively break Roves’ transition between the lines, but to also net three goals so early on with such consummate ease.
Jon Dahl Tomasson would have been forgiven for suffering from shellshock during the break after his side had produced such an abysmal opening 45 minutes. Rovers looked completely bereft of any confidence, both offensively and defensively as they tried to manoeuvre their 15 minute break in an attempt to re-instil the confidence and belief back into their teammates after such a disheartening period.
After the sides returned to the field of play, it was the home side who restarted proceedings as they were potentially aiming for the complete kill in the second-half, to try and further extend their lead as the second period grew.
In the 51st minute, Rovers’ academy proved its worth as Adam Wharton regained possession high up the field and gave it to Garrett. The 20-year-old midfielder managed to pick out his fellow graduate, Leonard whose snapshot came on the spin, but Palmer was alert enough to make the save.
Moments later, West Brom got the ball back up the other end as Fellows was again testing Wahlstedt, but the Swedish goalkeeper was alert, this time to deny the ball from sneaking inside the near-post as the Swede made the high save.
In what was turning into an end-to-end period of the game, after 54 minutes the ball bounced around and made its way out as far as Sondre Tronstad who tried his luck from distance, but his dipping effort was parried behind by Palmer.
West Bromwich Albion dug deep into their bench to try and swing the momentum back in their favour on the hour mark as Adam Reach and John Swift departed the field of play and were replaced by Pipa and Nathaniel Chalobah.
Although Corberán’s changes looked good on paper, they ultimately failed to make as much of an impact as he hoped for when sending them on as less than a minute later, Jake Garrett capped off an encouraging individual performance with his first league goal for the club. After Moran fed Garrett inside the final third, the academy graduate picked the ball up and drove at the defence, who continued to back off. Eventually, he managed to tiptoe his way past a couple of half-hearted challenges before using his marker as a shield to expertly curl the ball round the defender and goalkeeper to offer Rovers a glimmer of hope at 3-1.
Rovers also made some changes of their own after their goal, in the 62nd minute, as Sam Gallagher and Joe Rankin-Costello came back from long injury layoffs to get some vital match fitness, as Harry Leonard and Scott Wharton departed, with Carter reverting to his more natural centre-back role, as Rankin-Costello filled in at right-back.
Any optimism that Rovers had after the goal and the two changes soon evaporated into thin air, as Thomas-Asante argued that he had secured his hattrick with the game’s final goal. An Albion corner was cleared by Rovers as far as Conor Townsend clipped the ball towards the back-post from deep as Furlong won the header against Tronstad, down into the path of Thomas-Asante who first-time half-volleyed the ball into the ground as it bounced over the outstretched arms of Wahlstedt and settled anybody’s doubts about the contest at 4-1.
With 69 minutes gone, Pipa connected on the half-volley to a Furlong cross, but the Spaniard failed to angle his attempt on target, as Albion aimed to increase their goal-difference.
Cédric Kipré soon found himself wheeling away in celebration, but his delight was cut short by the linesman, who flagged his effort for offside.
In the 78th minute, West Brom moved towards resting their key assets, as Okay Yokuşlu, Brandon Thomas-Asante and Cédric Kipré all made way for Jed Wallace, Caleb Taylor and Daryl Dike.
The American Dike managed to show why he was such a handful in this division, as he was eased back into the fold after an eight-month layoff, as his strong strike was deflected behind via the body of Callum Brittain in the 80th minute as the hosts earned a corner which came to nothing.
Darnell Furlong seemingly owned the right-wing as he again delivered for Dike, but the American’s first-time effort failed to extend the Albion’s lead to 5-1.
As six minutes of time were allocated onto the end of the half by referee Stephen Martin, the game’s final act saw Pipa latch onto the end of Wallace’s big switch, before the defender cut inside and looked to try and squeeze the ball in, just inside the near-post, but it curled inches wide, as the final whistle soon came a few minutes after the 93rd minute attempt.
A performance littered with individual errors, lapses in concentration and the continuation of an inability to defend set-pieces. The 1,300-odd Rovers fans in the away end – including yours truly – can feel incredibly let down and frustrated by a performance that saw their heroes completely walked over by a side who are in a rich vein on form. Despite all the deserved plaudits that West Brom should receive off the back of this smashing victory, Rovers should not be exempt from scathing criticism that displayed ‘school-boy’ defensive errors and a lack of overall awareness, whether than was their inability to remain switched on at set-plays, their imbalanced midfield, or their relatively toothless attacking prowess, especially without Sammie Szmodics.
With this game tallying the seasonal defeats to 15, in a run that now sees the Blues failing to win in their last six games, Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side are sat in 18th place, with 32 points and the division’s worst defensive record, alongside a -12 goal-difference, from 27 games.
Rovers will look to put an end to this dismal form next Saturday when they welcome Boxing Day opponents (and victors) Huddersfield Town on Saturday 20th January at 3pm. After that, Hollywood comes to East Lancashire, when Ryan Reynold and Rob McElhenney’s Disney Plus-backed Wrexham AFC make the trip to Ewood Park on Monday 29th January for a 7:30pm kick-off in an FA Cup Fourth Round tie that will be televised on BBC Wales (that’s not a joke!). With four consecutive home games to look forward to, Rovers will enter the dreaded February hosting Queens Park Rangers on Saturday 3rd February at 3pm, before Stoke City come to town a week later on the 10th for another 3pm clash.
