After the Battle of the Hawthorns came an uneasy, edgy victory for West Brom against another rival from the West Midlands. Rather than enter infamy like last week’s Black Country derby, this win against Birmingham will be remembered for Andreas Weimann’s late winner separating what had looked like two well-matched rivals. And, regrettably, the racial abuse the Birmingham midfielder Juninho Bacuna reported to the referee in the closing minutes.
For the winner, Darnell Furlong scampered to the byline, his ball finding the Austrian substitute Weimann, recently arrived on loan from Bristol City. His finish hit the roof of the net. The stadium roof, meanwhile, blew off the Smethwick End that houses a division between West Brom fans and their away counterparts. There was no explosion of violence, only mere jubilation on one side and desolation on the other.
