West Brom 2 Sheffield Wednesday 1 - Report and pictures

In a fiery Championship encounter at The Hawthorns, Hal Robson-Kanu's fourth goal in six matches put the Baggies ahead.

They were pegged back after the interval when Steven Fletcher scored from the penalty spot after FIlip Krovinovic had fouled Kieran Lee in the box.

From that point the game could have gone either way with Slaven Bilic's side not at their free-flowing best.

But in the 88th minute they were awarded a penalty of their own when Matheus Pereira was fouled in the box by Kieran Westwoon.

And substitute Austin then made no mistake from 12-yards with the forward emphatically finding the bottom corner.

That strike was enough to win it for the Baggies and keep them top of the Championship.

But the drama was still not over with Wednesday's Liam Palmer sent off in stoppage time for a late challenge on Grady Diangana.

Report

Before kick-off, all the talk was focused on who Bilic would play in central midfield with both Jake Livermore and Romaine Sawyers suspended.

And it was Semi Ajayi and Filip Krovinovic who got the nod - with Ahmed Hegazi coming in at centre-back to allow the Nigerian to step into midfield.

Those tweaks meant the Baggies were able to continue in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Hal Robson-Kanu the lone striker, Matheus Pereira in the number 10 role and Matt Phillips and Grady Diangana out wide.

Sheffield Wednesday lined up in a 4-5-1 system with ex-Albion loanee Jacob Murphy on the right-wing. Kadeem Harris was on the left with Steve Fletcher up front.

In what proved to be a bizarre opening 10 minutes, Albion looked uncharacteristically shaky at the back with the visitors creating two decent chances to open the scoring.

First Hegazi failed to judge the flight of a long punt forward with Murphy nipping in to win the ball before hitting the byline.

The winger then sent in an inviting low cross which Fletcher was just millimetres away from tapping in.

Then just a few moments later, a corner fell kindly for Julian Borner who lashed a strike at goal from six-yards.

Fortunately for Albion, the effort took a deflection and sailed wide for a corner.

Going forward, though, Bilic's side had also had their moments.

And they then went on to open the scoring when Pereira's wonderful through-ball sent Robson-Kanu galloping through on goal.

The Welshman still had a lot to do.

But full of confidence he carried the ball into the box before calmly rolling it past Kieren Westwood and into the net.

Wednesday had come with a game plan to sit back and try and hit Albion on the break.

But while the clash calmed down somewhat after the goal it remained on a knife-edge with the Baggies looking to move the ball through the thirds - while Monk's side tried to counter through the pacy Harris and Murphy.

It was Bilic's side who were looking the more dangerous, though, with the hosts dominating possession and getting into dangerous areas.

But they were often stopped in their tracks by a physical Wednesday side - with Diangana and Pereira, in particular, coming on for some rough treatment.

And with the game stop-start, it petered out to half-time with Albion deservedly ahead but with Wednesday's game plan meaning they were still very much in the game at the break.

Monk's side came out and played with more intensity following the re-start - with the visitors seeming to want the ball more.

And they got themselves back on terms just before the hour-mark after they were gifted a penalty when Krovinovic overplayed on the edge of his own box.

That allowed Lee to nip in and win the ball with the Croatian then bringing him down in the box.

Referee Tony Harrington immediately pointed to the spot - with Fletcher converting from 12-yards.

Albion responded straight away with Darnell Furlong whipping in a dangerous cross which Robson-Kanu prodded wide.

Wednesday, though, were now on top with Monk's side having two excellent opportunities to take the lead.

First, a free-kick from the left was met by Morgan Fox whose volley clipped the top of the crossbar as it sailed over.

Hegazi then dallied on the ball in the box before passing straight to a Wednesday player.

The Egyptian then made up for the error by making an excellent block to keep out a strike from Lee.

With Wednesday on top, Bilic made a double change with Garth Barry and Austin replacing Hegazi and Robson-Kanu. Then shortly after Chris Brunt replaced Krovinovic.

And as the clock ticked towards the 90 minute mark, Albion won it with a mad 60 seconds of football.

First Diangana whipped in a cross that was met by Austin.

The striker's header looked destined to nestle into the back of the net.

But it clipped the post and sailed wide.

Undeterred, Bilic's side continued to press and they won a penalty of their own in the 88th minute when Pereira raced into the box only to be clattered by Westwood.

Referee Harrington again pointed to the spot with Austin burying the ball in the bottom corner.

But while that was enough to earn the Baggies all three points, the drama was not over with Palmer sent off in stoppage time for a reckless challenge on Diangana.

Teams

Albion (4-2-3-1): Johnstone, Furlong, Bartley, Hegazi (Barry 75), Townsend, Ajayi, Krovinovic (Brunt 81), Phillips, Pereira, Diangana, Robson-Kanu (Austin 75).

Subs not used: subs: Bond, Gibbs, Edwards, Zohore.

Sheffield Wednesday: Westwood, Palmer, Fox, Lee (Luongo 70), Harris (Reach 60), Bannan, Borner, Murphy, Hutchinson (Nuhiu 89), Iorfa, Fletcher.

Subs not used: Dawson, Lees, Foresteri, Odubajo