FA Cup - West Brom 2 - 2 Peterboro

Saido Berahino bags brace but Posh secure replay with late equaliser

West Brom 2 - 2 Peterboro

Home team scorers
Saido Berahino 14
Saido Berahino 84

Away team scorers
Shaquile Coulthirst 79
Jon Taylor 86


Jon Taylor, right, scores the second goal for Peterborough against West Brom at The Hawthorns.

This appeared ripe for an upset, considering only one team in the country have scored more goals than Peterborough this season and West Brom have been struggling to manage a shot on target. The reintroduction of Saido Berahino, scoring twice in his first start since October, had Albion in front twice but they were pegged back on both occasions and face a trip to London Road to decide who advances to the fifth round.

The League One side looked somewhat overawed in the first half and could easily have been three goals down before Shaquile Coulthirst equalised 11 minutes from the end. Berahino put Albion back in front within five minutes thanks to a tidy right-footed finish into the far corner after Craig Dawson played him in, but the substitute Jon Taylor regained parity less than two minutes later in a wonderful finish to a match that had plodded along for 75 minutes.

Having failed to register a single attempt on target against Aston Villa last weekend, Berahino converted with Albion’s first attempt. Peterborough, though, were the architects of their own downfall after overplaying in midfield, allowing Rickie Lambert to pick up the loose ball and stride forward. He fed Berahino who steadied before curling into the bottom right corner from about 20 yards.

The best Peterborough could fashion in response before half-time was a Coulthirst shot that drifted narrowly wide midway through the opening half, and they were lucky a smorgasbord of sloppy defensive play did not leave the tie out of reach.

Half an hour in a dodgy back pass from Michael Smith to Ben Alnwick almost saw Lambert benefit only for the goalkeeper to recover from his initial botched clearance. Soon after James McClean stole the ball from a dawdling Ricardo Santos but shot right at Alnwick, while the Irishman also shot wide from a promising position after a neat give-and-go with Lambert.

Lambert also went close two minutes after the break when played in by Stéphane Sessègnon after Berahino had pickpocketed Chris Forrester.

Gradually, however, the Posh gained a foothold. Smith spurned a good chance 20 minutes from the end, shooting straight at Boaz Myhill after being played in by Coulthirst. The recent signing from Tottenham, though, equalised for the first time with a stunning volley after Michael Bostwick’s long diagonal pass. Myhill was caught in two minds and the striker finished brilliantly at the near post with the goalkeeper backtracking.

Berahino, who is expected to stay at West Brom despite interest from Tottenham and Newcastle, went a step further to silencing his doubters by putting Tony Pulis’ side in front again but Taylor had the last word when making the most of some ropey marking after Santos’ pass to him on the edge of the area.

Guardian