West Brom 0 Sunderland 1: Highlights after Pierre Ekwah goal and Brandon Thomas-Asante red card
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Sunderland got back to winning ways after a 1-0 victory at West Brom at the Hawthorns.
Mike Dodds’ side spent most of the first half camped inside their own half, yet were given a helping hand when Albion striker Brandon Thomas-Asante was sent off after receiving two bookings. Pierre Ekwah then opened the scoring just before the half-time whistle, putting the visitors in a commanding position.
Here’s how the game played out:
West Brom vs Sunderland
RECAP: West Brom 0 Sunderland 1 (Ekwah, 45+1)
West Brom XI: Palmer, Furlong, Kipre, Bartley (Ajayi, 45), Townsend (Phillips, 67), Chalobah (Reach, 45), Mowatt, Johnston (Wallace, 61), Fellows, Diangana (Swift, 61), Thomas-Asante
Subs: Griffiths, Ajayi, Wallace, Phillips, Weimann, Swift, Reach, M’Vila, Yokuslu
Sunderland XI: Patterson, Pembele (Alese, 71), Hume, O’Nien, Ballard, Styles, Neil, Ekwah, Rigg (Roberts, 71), Clarke (Ba, 90+2), Bellingham
Subs: Bishop, Alese, Roberts, Ba, Mundle, Aouchiche, Dack, Hemir, Burstow
It's Matchday!
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Sunderland’s Championship match against West Brom at the Hawthorns.
The Black Cats will be looking to build on Tuesday’s goalless draw against Leeds United, yet it won’t be easy against a Baggies side who are on a 10-match unbeaten run.
We’ll have all the build-up ahead of the match, as well as in-game analysis and post-match reaction. Stick around and refresh the page for live updates.
Team news
In terms of team news, Corry Evans (below) has returned to training following a minor setback but won’t be ready for today’s match. Dennis Cirkin is still unavailable, yet it’s hoped he’ll be able to return before the end of this season following a hamstring issue.
Nazariy Rusyn and Elliot Embleton also remain sidelined while Jenson Seelt and Niall Huggins are facing longer absences.
Dodds on West Brom
Here’s what Sunderland boss Mike Dodds had to say about West Brom in yesterday’s press conference:
“It will be a really tough game. I have said before that I think the coach is one of the best in the league. I think he has a talented squad that he is getting the maximum out of.
“The Championship is one of the toughest leagues in the world and West Brom are another really good side.
“We are not going there to draw the game, I can assure you all that.”
How West Brom are shaping up
West Brom sit fifth in the Championship following a 2-0 win over Rotherham on Wednesday, with the Baggies close to securing a play-off place.
Carlos Corberan’s side haven’t lost for 10 matches, while former Sunderland midfielder Yann M’Vila made his first start for the club against Rotherham.
To find out more, we caught up with West Brom writer Jonny Drury from the Express & Star on the latest episode of The Roar Podcast.
Corberan on Sunderland
Here’s what Corberan had to say when asked about Sunderland in yesterday’s press conference.
“I think sometimes the position a team finds themselves in in the table shows more about injuries and turbulent moments than the level of the squad. “Right now, if I analyse Sunderland’s squad it’s easy to see that they are a very good squad and I saw that against Leeds the other night.
“They drew with them at Elland Road and they’ve kept two clean sheets in-a-row now. It’s not easy to do that.
“They are a very attacking team with a lot of good players. They’ll be competitive and it’s a massive game.”
Predicted line-ups
Here are our predicted line-ups for today’s match:
Predicted West Brom XI: Palmer, Furlong, Kipre, Bartley, Reach, Yokuslu, Mowatt, Wallace, Johnston, Swift, Thomas-Asante
Predicted Sunderland XI: Patterson, Hume, O’Nien, Ballard, Alese, Neil, Ekwah, Rigg, Aouchiche, Clarke, Bellingham
Carlos Corberan in his pre-match programme notes
“In England, it doesn’t matter whether you are positioned in the promotion places, relegation spots or in mid-table - all teams show the maximum amount of respect and attempt to win every game.”
“That is why we know Sunderland have the ability to pose us a difficult challenge this afternoon, so we must be prepared for another battle here at The Hawthorns.”
What to make of those side
So Sunderland have named an unchanged side following Tuesday’s goalless draw at Leeds. It looks like it will be a back five again with Timothee Pembele and Callum Styles as the wing-backs.
Mason Burstow is back on the bench, with Leo Hjelde dropping out of the squad.
West Brom have made four changes following their 2-0 win over Rotherham on Wednesday.
Conor Townsend, Grady Diangana, Nathaniel Chalobah and Alex Mowatt are the players who return to the side, while former Sunderland midfielder Yann M’Vila drops to the bench. Josh Maja isn’t named in the squad after playing for the Baggies under-21s side last night.
2' Ballard booed
The home fans are booing Dan Ballard when he receives the ball.
The centre-back’s challenge on Josh Maja back in December left the forward sidelined for several months.
4' Pembele intercepts
West Brom have started on the front foot.
Right-back Furlong broke forward down the right there before his low cross was cut out by Pembele.
The Sunderland fans are now chanting, ‘there’s only one Dan Ballard.’
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