Slaven Bilic’s West Bromwich Albion were fortunate to snatch a draw against Championship rivals Reading at The Hawthorns, thanks to Kenneth Zohore.
Reading manager Jose Gomes believes West Bromwich Albion could be the team to beat this season after Kenneth Zohore’s late penalty snatched a point for The Baggies at the Hawthorns, speaking to GetReading.
The Baggies were far from their best on Wednesday night against a Reading side full of confidence after a 3-0 battering of Cardiff City just days earlier.
But just 17 minutes after he had given the hosts the lead with a stunning strike from the edge of the box, Liverpool loanee Ovie Ejaria gifted West Brom a share of the spoils after an ill-timed tackle in the penalty area.
£8 million summer signing Zohore slammed the resulting spot-kick down the middle to fire Slaven Bilic’s West Brom into sixth place in the embryonic Championship table.
And Bilic’s opposite number expects The Baggies to stay in and around the promotion spots by the time a gruelling campaign reaches its conclusion.
“They have some very good players with technical ability. They can create a lot of danger out of our box but we didn’t allow them to find the way to our goal,” Gomes said.
“We defended really well. They passed our midfielders’ line once or twice but they couldn’t pass our defensive line. I’m very happy with my players for the way they defended and the brave spirit they showed.
“We must keep the ball more to create more chances but I think it will be very difficult for teams to beat West Brom this year.”
West Brom have won just two of their four Championship games so far under Bilic but it feels as if they are just getting started.
Summer signings Filip Krovinovic, Charlie Austin and Romaine Sawyers have shown flashes of quality that could make a real difference at this level while West Ham loanee Grady Diangana scored twice in the 2-1 win at Luton Town on Saturday.
Once the new additions settle down and Bilic smooths out the rough edges, West Brom could quickly become a force in the second tier.
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