Mbaye Diagne was left feeling “pretty miserable” despite West Bromwich Albion’s 3-0 thrashing of Southampton last night, Baggies manager Sam Allardyce has told Sky Sports.
If only West Brom had done this sooner.
In their last two Premier League matches, Allardyce’s suddenly free-flowing side has scored eight goals against Chelsea and Southampton, producing performances full of heart, energy, teamwork and quality.
Matheus Pereira, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Matt Phillips and Callum Robinson ripped Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Saints limb from limb at the Hawthorns in arguably the club’s most complete performance since promotion.
And, while West Brom still need a miracle if they are to emulate that ‘Great Escape’ of 2005, at least they’ve given themselves a chance.
It wasn’t all rosy in the West Bromwich dressing room, however.
Early in the match, the latest in a long line of contentious VAR decisions denied Galatasaray loanee Diagne his third goal for the club – a travesty of a decision made all the more confusing by the so-called ‘explanation’.
“We saw his delight when he scored against Chelsea and he should have been allowed again tonight,” Allardyce said.
“Then his brilliant assist for our second goal would have made the perfect night for him but, because he’s been deprived of that goal, he’s pretty miserable in the dressing room.”
As ‘Big Sam’ himself indicated, it wasn’t all bad for Diagne.
The Senegal international was a major part of West Brom’s third home win of the season, flicking the ball on in the build up for the opener and then dragging Jan Bednarek out of position so Robinson could smash home the third goal.
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