Today marks the anniversary of two big West Midlands derby wins for West Bromwich Albion. Let’s take a look back at those memorable games.
10 years ago today, Wolverhampton Wanderers arrived at the Hawthorns for Tony Mowbray’s first game in charge of West Bromwich Albion. Mowbray’s reign got off to the perfect start, as Jason Koumas set up Jonathan Greening to fire Albion into an 11th-minute lead.
Moments later, Pascal Zuberbuhler denied Wolves an equaliser with a smart save from Wolves midfielder Darren Potter. Wolves’ resurgence was cut short when Martin Albrechtsen delivered from the right for Diomansy Kamara to double the Baggies lead.
Jay Boothroyd, Seyi Olofinjana and Jemal Johnson all had chances to get Wolves back into the game but failed to find a way past Zuberbuhler. With five minutes remaining, Kamara was brought down in the box by Mark Little. Substitute John Hartson stepped up and fired home the penalty to complete an emphatic 3-0 victory.
Five years later, Roy Hodgson’s West Brom side came back from a goal down to grab a historic win over Aston Villa. This West Midlands derby got off to a fiery start, as Alan Hutton avoided red for his horrendous tackle on Shane Long, the forward came off injured as a result of the foul.
Things only got worse for West Brom, Ben Foster brought down Gabby Agbonglahor for a Villa penalty, and Darren Bent converted the spot kick.
Albion were given a route back into the game when referee, Phil Dowd, gave his second spot kick of the day for a Chris Heard foul on Jonas Olsson. This time Dowd did produce a red card and Alex McLeish’s side were down to 10 men. Chris Brunt took the penalty but blasted it wide
The Baggies did find an equaliser before half-time, as Jonas Olsson headed home Brunt’s corner, celebrating in style with an iconic knee slide. After the break, it did not take long for Albion to find their second and decisive goal. Paul Scharner fired home the 56th minute winner to send the travelling supporters into raptures. Albion held on to record their first league win at Villa Park since 1979.
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