Plymouth Argyle cannot find cutting edge in West Bromwich Albion defeat
Plymouth Argyle could not beat top-of-the-table opposition for a second consecutive Saturday as they lost 1-0 to West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns.
The Pilgrims had beaten previous table-toppers Sunderland 3-2 at Home Park the weekend before but despite producing a performance which had plenty of positives about it they were beaten by West Brom as they extended their unbeaten start to the Championship campaign to six games, with 16 points out of a possible 18.
West Brom had three shots against a post in a goalless first half, while Morgan Whittaker had a couple of good opportunities for Argyle, with one shot saved by former Pilgrims’ loan signing Alex Palmer and another attempt sent over the bar.
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Argyle made a good start to the second period but it was West Brom who broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute with a close rage finish from striker Josh Maja and that proved to be the difference between the sides at full-time.
The Pilgrims came up with some build-up play during the game and were comfortable passing the ball out of defence but their attacks lacked a cutting edge to them, which they needed against opposition who have yet to concede a goal at home this term.
Wayne Rooney made two changes to Argyle’s starting line-up for the visit to the league leaders, with Adam Forshaw and Ryan Hardie coming into the side for Callum Wright and Michael Obafemi. Forshaw slotted into central midfield alongside Adam Randell, with Darko Gyabi pushed further forward into the number 10 role, while Hardie replaced Obafemi in attack.
Argyle were captained by Joe Edwards, who had signed a contract extension with the club on Friday until the end of the 205/26 season after his fine form at the start of this term.
West Brom had played their opening five Championship games with the same team, but boss Carlos Corberan was forced into one change against the Pilgrims.
Jayson Molumby, who had scored Albion’s winning goal when they beat Swansea City 1-0 in their previous home game, was ruled out by injury and was replaced by Serbian midfielder Uros Racic, who is on loan from Italian side Sassuolo.
There had been some very heavy downpours of rain in the hour leading up until kick-off but that did not dampen the atmosphere inside a packed stadium, which included 2,100 members of the travelling Green Army.
There was an early chance for West Brom when Karlan Grant played the ball inside to Maja, who clipped the ball past goalkeeper Dan Grimshaw but wide of the left post.
Hardie then had an opportunity to test the West Brom defence as he ran onto a pass from Whittaker but Semi Ajayi did well to hold him up inside the box. The striker eventually lost control of the ball and it was scooped up by Palmer.
Argyle defender Lewis Gibson blocked a shot from Tom Fellows after the West Brom attacker cut inside onto his left foot before John Swift curled the ball over Grimshaw’s bar from 20 yards out.
The Pilgrims had the next scoring chance when a cross from Ibrahim Cissoko was met by the head of Hardie, who flicked the ball wide of Palmer’s right post.
The play then swung to the other end of the pitch and Grant’s powerful strike beat Grimshaw but rebounded away off his right post.
Grant also had a shot deflected wide for a corner off Edwards before Fellows strode into the Argyle box and his low drive was safely held onto by Grimshaw.
West Brom were starting to gain the ascendancy and midfielder Alex Mowatt had a shot hit Grimshaw’s left post, before Swift suffered the same fate, this time off the right upright, with a strike from outside the penalty area.
A slip from West Brom captain Kyle Bartley then allowed Whittaker to race clear of him but his shot was blocked by Palmer as the Pilgrims had their first on target attempt of the match.
There was another excellent opportunity for Whittaker soon afterwards after a good break and then pass inside from Cissoko but he fired over the bar from the edge of the box.
Argyle were having their best spell of the game and Gyabi forced a very good save out of Palmer with a low shot on the turn before Cissoko sent the loose ball into the side netting from a tight angle.
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Maja did put the ball in the net for West Brom on the stroke of half-time after a low cross from Torbjorn Heggem into the six-yard area but an offside flag was raised immediately and it remained goalless at the interval.
Racic fired wide from distance for West Brom in the early stages of the second period while at the other end of the pitch a flicked header from Hardie after a cross from Forshaw bounced harmlessly out of play.
Whittaker then stung the palms of Palmer after a fierce strike from 20 yards out following an interchange of passes with Gyabi before a Randell left-foot strike as the ball dropped to him outside the box flew high over the bar.
West Brom repelled a couple of long throw-ins from Argyle defender Kornel Szucs while Whittaker caused a number of problems for Albion in wide attacking positions, while also playing some good diagonal balls to Cissoko as well.
So it was somewhat against the run of play when the hosts took the lead in the 62nd minute as Racic swept in a low cross from the right and the unmarked Maja slotted home from close range.
It was almost 2-0 soon afterwards when a downward header from Ajayi following an inswinging corner from Fellows bounced up off the grass and the ball had to be pushed over the bar by the alert Grimshaw.
Bartley then headed narrowly over the bar from the resulting corner as West Brom, buoyed by taking the lead, applied a lot of pressure on the Pilgrims, who replaced Forshaw with Rami Al Hajj in the 67th minute.
With Argyle struggling to stem the tide of West Brom, or have any of their own, Rooney made a triple substitution as Wright, Obafemi and Mustapha Bundu were sent on for Cissoko, Gyabi and Hardie.
Mikey Johnston also came off the bench for Albion and he had a shot which was not far wide, before Argyle had a chance when a flicked header by Edwards after a cross from Whittaker was comfortably saved by Palmer.
Bundu then sent a curling right-foot shot wide of Palmer’s left post in the closest that Argyle came to getting a late equaliser.
ARGYLE: Dan Grimshaw; Joe Edwards, Kornel Szucs, Lewis Gibson, Bali Mumba; Adam Randell, Adam Forshaw (Rami Al Hajj 67 mins); Morgan Whittaker, Darko Gyabi (Callum Wright 76 mins), Ibrahim Cissoko (Mustapha Bundu 76 mins); Ryan Hardie (Michael Obafemi 76 mins).
Substitutes (not used): Marko Marosi, Nathanael Ogbeta, Jordan Houghton, Brendan Galloway, Victor Palsson.
WEST BROM: Alex Palmer; Darnell Furlong, Semi Ajayi, Kyle Bartley, Torbjorn Heggem; Uros Racic (Ousmane Diakite 71 mins), Alex Mowatt; Tom Fellows (Jed Wallace 71 mins), John Swift (Grady Diangana 62 mins), Karlan Grant (Mikey Johnston 62 mins); Josh Maja (Lewis Dobbin 78 mins).
Substitutes (not used): Ted Cann, Mason Holgate, Callum Styles, Gianluca Frabotta.
REFEREE: Andrew Kitchen
ATTENDANCE: 25,574 (2,120)
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