West Brom 2-0 Bournemouth - Report

Steve Bruce's side underperformed massively in Sunday's derby with the Baggies failing to register a single shot on target as they fell to a 1-0 defeat.

But they were a side transformed at The Hawthorns with goals from Alex Mowatt and Andy Carroll putting them 2-0 up after 12 minutes.

Scott Parker's side are widely expected to go on and win automatic promotion this season.

But they failed to lay a glove on Albion who cruised to victory from that point.

Dominic Solanke did had a couple of half chances to pull a goal back for the visitors.

Overall, though, the Baggies defended superbly with their high-flying opponents restricted to very little.

REPORT

Bruce described Albion's game at Blues on Sunday as one of the worst matches he'd ever seen.

So it was no surprise to see the boss make changes for the visit of the high-flying Cherries.

Having both put in poor displays at St Andrew's, strikers Karlan Grant and Callum Robinson were absent from the starting XI.

Instead, Grady Diangana and Carroll got the nod up front with Robinson on the bench and Grant missing completely from the match-day 18.

Those changes aside, Bruce stuck with the team that had started the last five games.

It meant the Baggies continued in a 3-5-2 system with Darnell Furlong and Conor Townsend at wing-back and Taylor Gardner-Hickman joining Jake Livermore and Mowatt in central midfield.

Bournemouth lined up in the 4-3-3 formation they have used for the majority of the season.

It saw Dominic Solanke start as the central striker with Jaidon Anthony on the left flank and Ryan Christie on the right.

Albion really had been woeful at St Andrew's with the Baggies failing to register a single shot on target.

But they walked out at The Hawthorns a completely different side with Bruce's men finding themselves two goals up after just 12 minutes.

They opened the scoring when Furlong charged down the right before whipping in a dangerous cross that was eventually cleared to Mowatt on the edge of the box.

He, though, brilliantly kept his composure to drill the ball through a crowd of players and into the bottom corner.

That goal was the first Albion had scored in a first-half at The Hawthorns since October.

And in the blink of an eye, they then doubled their lead when Sam Johnstone played a long-ball forward that Lloyd Kelly failed to cut out.

That allowed Carroll to pounce with the striker producing a smart first touch to take the ball away from Adam Smith.

But his second was even better with the former Newcastle man then firing past Mark Travers with a low drive from eight-yards.

Bournemouth should have pulled a goal back just seconds later with Solanke poking a Smith cross inches wide.

But there was no doubt Parker's side had been rattled by falling two goals behind with there next to no intensity to their play.

And Albion proved to comfortably be the better of the two teams for the rest of the half with the visitors passive in possession and lacking any sort of cutting edge up front.

Clearly unhappy with what he had seen, Parker made a change at the break with Siriki Dembele replacing Christie.

And with their boss still ringing in their ears, they improved significantly with the Cherries creating two decent chances just minutes after the re-start.

First, Solanke produced a clever back-heel to find Smith in the box. But he fired over when he should have done better.

Semi Ajayi - who had otherwise been excellent - then needlessly lost possession to Dembele.

And he found Solanke who again fired over when he should have hit target.

Albion were millimetres away from having a penalty just seconds later when Kelly took Furlong out right on the edge of the box.

With 20 minutes to go, Bournemouth were seeing a lot of the ball but with Albion defending solidly and restricting them to very little.

And Albion came close to wrapping up the points when the ball broke for Livermore on the edge of the box who fired inches over.

From that point, the Cherries huffed and puffed in a desperate bid to find a route back into the game.

It was Albion who continued to create chances on the break, with substitutes Robinson and Jayson Molumby both going close.

And despite referee Keith Stroud bizarrely adding on seven minutes of stoppage time - Albion kept Parker's side at bay with ease to secure what, overall, was a comfortable win.

Teams

Albion (3-5-2): Johnstone, Ajayi, Bartley, Clarke, Furlong (Molumby 68), Livermore, Mowatt (O'Shea 86), Gardner-Hickman, Diangana (Robinson 74), Carroll.

Subs not used: Button, Kipre, Reach, Fellows.

Bournemouth (4-3-3): Travers, Phillips, Cook (Cantwell 55), Kelly, Lerma, Solanke, Christie (Dembele 46), Smith, Billing, Anthony (lowe 65), Zemura.

Subs not used: Woodman, Stacey, Cahill, Pearson.