The Baggies Bounce Back

West Bromwich Albion U23’s 3-2 Stoke City U23’s

Premier League 2 – 01/10/18

West Bromwich Albion have won their first Premier League 2 fixture since late January. They left it right to the wire, as Jonathan Leko’s 87th Minute overhead kick secured the 3 points against a determined Stoke City U23’s outfit.

From the first minute, The Baggies were playing with purpose and applied pressure to the Stoke defence. The first goal didn’t take long, as 10 minutes in an expertly weighted pass, was played into the path of Oliver Burke who cut inside off the left and guided a curled strike into the top right corner.

Oliver Burke made the scoresheet, but was substituted off after an injury.

The Potters responded with a series of attacks that should have granted a goal. Noticeably, a scuffed clearance off the WBA line fell to the feet of Tre Pemberton who sliced wide to the right of the goal and really should have equalised.

The fixture’s intensity heated up, demonstrated by James Morrison, as he lost his experienced head, and left a foot trailing for a real ‘striker’s tackle’ that earnt a yellow card just before the half hour mark.

One of the stand out players was midfielder Rekeem Harper, who was a workhorse for the entire 90 minutes. In the 51st, Harper won the ball back from the a Stoke attack, he then carried possession up to the final third before laying off a through ball to Burke into the penalty area, who then unselfishly returned it square, gifting an open goal to give Albion a more comfortable 2-0 lead.

Rekeem Harper was impressive in the midfield, and is my personal choice for man of the match.

Pemberton was substituted for Kristofer Szereto, in a change that swayed the momentum of the match. Szereto was a direct threat from the off, as his tricky footwork and pace caused problems for the Throstles. A low cross by the Hungarian took a major deflection off defender Kyle Howkins, who left his goalkeeper stranded, before picking the ball out of the net, as the Staffordshire club closed the gap for 2-1.

Kristofer Szereto is definitely a player with promise.

Following the goal, the game’s pace was one sided in Stoke’s favour. West Brom were forced to sit back on the defensive in an attempt to ride out until the final whistle. Plans were altered though as in the 78th minute, midfielder Ollie Shenton rose in the box and looped a header over a back-peddling Alex Palmer who had come off his line, to wrap the game up 2-2 for what seemed to be a well fought comeback.

3 Points seemed unlikly for West Brom after Shenton's equaliser.

But it was 19-year-old Leko who took the headlines tonight, as in the final moments, an improvised overhead kick sent the three points to the West Midlands, as they claimed their first victory in over 8 months.

Leko continued to make his name, however, it was on the suspension list, as a reckless challenge left him seeing red, and will now miss the next game against Liverpool U23’s on Sunday. Despite his error, Leko gave Albion their first win of the campaign, in a hard-fought encounter at The Hawthorns.

Leko may miss the next game, but he made his mark on the night.