Brown Ideye’s header caps West Brom’s battling draw at Burnley
Burnley 2 - 2 West Brom
Ashley Barnes 11
Danny Ings 32Chris Brunt 45 +0:21
Brown Ideye 67
Brown Ideye heads home for West Brom
It says much about Brown Ideye’s disastrous debut campaign in England that West Bromwich Albion were willing to swallow a £6m loss to get rid of their record buy. Had West Ham sold them Carlton Cole, Ideye might have been offloaded to the Qatari side Al Gharafa and remembered only as a rival to Mario Balotelli in the contest for the title of the worst signing of the season.
Instead, and for once, West Brom can be grateful the £10m purchase Ideye remains on their books. Deadline-day frustration led to a rare celebration as Ideye scored 0nly his second league goal – and he knew little about the first – to cap their comeback. Burnley, who excelled for the first 44 minutes, were poised to leapfrog their visitors but paid a heavy price for their inability to defend corners.
Yet Tony Pulis’ side required a fightback. They have a tendency to be sluggish starters and Burnley invariably begin at pace. Both conformed to type as the home side could have been three goals ahead after 11 minutes. First Danny Ings’ half-volley had just too much elevation. Then Ashley Barnes teed up Scott Arfield for a crisply-struck shot. The winger, seemingly expecting it to nestle in the net, was turning away, as if to start celebrating, when Ben Foster applied a crucial touch to tip it onto the bar.
The woodwork only preserved parity for a couple of minutes. Ings and Arfield played a one-two, the Scot heading the ball into the striker’s path, and Ings lobbed a cross into the six-yard box where Barnes rose above Chris Baird to head Burnley into the lead.
Their second again showed the importance of crossing their gameplan also illustrated the instinctive understanding their players share. Kieran Trippier released George Boyd with a dummy. The winger accelerated into space and whipped in a cross. Ings met it with a perfectly-placed header.
Ings has stayed at Burnley for the remainder of the season, as they were adamant he would, and while his future remains unresolved, his commitment to keeping up Burnley has been a constant. Whereas one top scorer was a scoring starter, however, the other began with a watching brief.
West Brom’s team were notable for who was included – Darren Fletcher, debuting as captain – as much as who was not. Saido Berahino paid a price for his ill-timed declaration of his intention to leave in the summer as he lost his place. Pulis said Berahino had been in the “naughty chair”. Its closest equivalent at Turf Moor seemed a seat on the substitutes’ bench, although Berahino soon vacated that to replace the injured and ineffective Victor Anichebe.
When West Brom halved the deficit, it was courtesy of another who had been demoted. Chris Brunt lost the captaincy to Fletcher but, back in the ranks, bundled Callum McManaman’s corner over the line.
Sean Dyche’s side had squandered a two-goal lead in their previous home match against Crystal Palace, and Pulis, sensing an opportunity for a repeat, abandoned his initial, defensive approach, sacrificing the left-back Chris Baird at half-time and sending on striker Ideye.
It was a move that paid dividends. Brunt, by now playing in the back four, delivered the corner that Ideye headed in. It continued a theme for Burnley, who have conceded more headers than any other team this season and whose set-piece problems owe much to goalkeeper Tom Heaton’s inability to command his box.
A third corner almost led to another goal, albeit at the right end for Burnley. Jason Shackell’s header looped over Foster but Joleon Lescott cleared it off the line. West Brom, too, could have clinched all three points when Heaton saved superbly from Berahino after Ideye outmuscled Shackell.
Guardian