West Brom 1 - 1 SwanseaSalomon Rondón’s last-gasp strike earns West Brom point against Swansea
Home team scorers
Jose Salomon Rondon 90 +1:33
Away team scorers
Gylfi Sigurdsson 64
Gylfi Sigurdsson, centre, scored for Swansea after 64 minutes against West Brom.
Salomon Rondón equalised in stoppage time to deny Swansea City a third successive win after Gylfi Sigurdsson’s fourth goal in five games looked to have pulled West Bromwich Albion into the relegation equation.
Tony Pulis’s side are looking heavy-legged, with an FA Cup replay victory away to Bristol City their only win in seven games, and not even the arrival of Saido Berahino as a second-half substitute could lift them before Rondón’s late intervention.
Perhaps a goal feast was always unlikely considering only Aston Villa started the night having scored fewer Premier League goals than these sides. Both were a goalscorer better off than they could have been courtesy of the transfer window – Saido Berahino staying at The Hawthorns, Alberto Paloschi joining Swansea for £8million from Chievo – but neither started.
Talks are planned between Berahino and Jeremy Peace after the West Brom chairman rejected Newcastle United’s £21m bid on Sunday, with Stoke City also believed to be in the hunt. Tony Pulis, the Albion head coach, believes the former England contender has wasted six months of his career since he threatened to go on strike following Spurs’ thwarted bid to sign him in August.
Paloschi’s Premier League debut was delayed only for 45 minutes but arrived in unfortunate circumstances. Sung-yeung Ki had to be taken off on a stretcher after he inadvertently clashed heads with Stéphane Sessègnon as the West Brom forward took to the air in shaping to shoot acrobatically, as he ran on to Salomon Rondón’s header down. The game was held up for several minutes as Ki was treated for what the club later tweeted was a minor concussion.
Paloschi almost scored with his first touch, running on to Wayne Routledge’s clever ball, but Ben Foster, on his 200th league appearance, saved superbly. For a goalless first half, however, it was thoroughly entertaining. Swansea’s confidence was up on the back of successive victories and the arrival of Francesco Guidolin as their head coach.
Unchanged from the victory at Everton nine days ago and refreshed from their absence from the FA Cup, Swansea’s approach play was in the club’s finest traditions. With Routledge, the diminutive winger, playing up front, this was clearly a plan to counter West Brom utilising four centre-halves in defence. Their best chance, before Paloschi’s arrival, was when Gylfi Sigurdsson picked up Jonny Evans’s misplaced pass and dispatched a 35-yard volley that Foster had to back-pedal to push wide. Darren Fletcher played at the front of West Brom’s midfield triangle and almost scored in the opening minute from Craig Dawson’s cross only for Lukasz Fabianski to tip over. Fletcher later headed across goal towards Rondón, rather than going for goal himself, while Dawson should have done better than head wide when Sessègnon’s free-kick allowed him to dive in unmarked.
Swansea continued to weave the prettier patterns in the second half, with Routledge moving wide to accommodate Paloschi, but West Brom’s hard-running and determined defending kept them in the game initially. Indeed, Fletcher should have done better with a third headed opportunity but sent McClean’s left-wing cross over the bar. Sandro, the new signing on loan from Queens Park Rangers, impressed before he tired.
The home fans had been chanting Berahino’s name intermittently throughout and there was a loud cheer when he stripped ready for duty. Unfortunately for those wanting a more attacking change, it was Sessègnon who was withdrawn, to loud boos. The disenchantment intensified when Swansea took the lead within two minutes.
The loss of Jonny Evans, playing at left-back, to what seemed to be a hamstring injury had already disrupted Albion, with Dawson, a right-footed centre-back starting at right-back, switched to the other side of defence. So when Sigurdsson timed his run perfectly as the ball span off Gareth McAuley’s tackle on Paloschi, the Iceland playmaker had time and space to drill his shot into the far bottom corner.
Sigurdsson scored midway through the second half as West Brom were still readjusting personnel following the loss of the injured Evans. Guidolin, can still appreciate his side are making progress as relegation fears diminish.
Guardian
