The Baggies dominated the first half and should have extended their lead, but the Potters will feel they did enough to snatch a point
Sponsored by
WEST BROM carried on their exceptional run at home as James Morrison's first-half strike clinched the win against Stoke City.
It's now three straight league wins in a row at The Hawthorns for Tony Pulis' men as they edged a close affair against the Potters.
The deadlock was broken in just the sixth minute when James Morrison netted his third strike in five games, firing into the bottom corner after being found expertly by Nacer Chadli.
Shortly after the 30-year-old Scottish international should have made it two, but failed to get proper connection on the ball as he slid to try and divert Chris Brunt's wonderful cross.
Salomon Rondon almost got his name on the score sheet in the 34th minute, and would have done if not for Lee Grant. The powerful striker skipped past his man before unleashing a fierce shot that the former Derby man done brilliantly to parry away.
Just before half-time the Baggies again should have extended their lead when Matt Phillips' effort was deflected just over after Chadli had squared the ball to him.
The Potters almost found themselves level in the 44th minute against the run of play, Ryan Shawcross' deflected header clipped the outisde of the post, before Joe Allen had a tame header saved by Ben Foster.
Phil Bardsley almost scored the equaliser with a rifling drive from 25 yards, but his effort whistled just over which left Foster with his heart in his mouth.
It was them James McClean's turn to sting the hands of Grant, he cut in from the left-hand side and struck a fierce shot with his right foot that Grant tipped behind.
Then in the 80th minute Erik Pieters should have scored his first goal in three years but somehow managed to header well wide when it looked easier to score from four yards out.
Saido Berahino came on as a late substitute against his former side, but he failed to make an impact as Stoke fail to win in their last four games.
Claudio Yacob was a surprise absentee for West Brom after being taken to hospital on the eve of the game suffering from appendicitis.
That allowed £10million signing from Hull, Jake Livermore to make his first Baggies start.
Not surprisingly Saido Berahino’s return caused some … ahem …. friction with Albion fans, despite the fact Mark Hughes decided to start with him on the bench.
Even the atmosphere at the PRE-MATCH WARM-UP was electric as rival fans treated a routine shooting practice into a cup final – with huge roars greeting every time Berahino scored or missed.
The Burundi kid had clearly inspired the songsters in the Smethwick End who immediately started work on their new album.
Tracks included: “Who the f*** is Berahino?” “You’re just a fat j***** b****** ,” “Oh-oh-oh he’s massive – you know … Saido Berahino,” “Lip up fatty, lip up fatty, Berahino,” and the romantic ballad: “Hey Berahino …. ooh, aah ……I wanna know why you’re such a c***?”
The Hawthorns was then transformed into a boos festival after 24 minutes when the Stoke subs went out for their first warm-up …. led by you know who!
By then Albion were already a goal up thanks to James Morrison’s 6th minute opener – not the first time the Scotland international has delivered a swift blow which upset Saido!
It was Mozza’s third goal in his last five Premier games.Albion dominated after that but failed to take their chances. By half-time it was hard not to feel the home side could live to regret those misses.
Darren Fletcher celebrated his 300th Premier League appearance with another solid display against fellow Scot Charlie Adam.
The moment we had all been waiting on arrived after 58 minutes when Mark Hughes sent on pantomime villain Saido Berahino and Mame Biram Diouf for Peter Crouch and Adam.
It took a staggering 21 minutes for Berahino to get his first kick of the ball!
Tony Pulis has only lost once to his old club Stoke in 13 meetings now.
WEST BROM
Feb 11 - West Ham (A) - PL
Feb 25 - Bournemouth (H) - PL
Mar 4 - Crystal Palace (H) - PL
Mar 11 - Everton (A) - PL
Mar 18 - Arsenal (H) - PL
STOKE CITY
Feb 11 - Crystal Palace (H) - PL
Feb 26 - Tottenham Hotspur (A) - PL
Mar 4 - Middlesbrough (H) - PL
Mar 11 - Manchester City (A) - PL
Mar 18 - Chelsea (H) - PL
WEST BROM: Foster 6, Nyom 6, Dawson 8, McAuley 7, Brunt 7, Fletcher 6, Livermore 8, Philipps 7 (Robson-Kanu 87, 6), Morrison 7 (Field 89, 6), Chadli 7 (McClean 66, 6), Rondon 7
Subs not used: Myhill, Olsson, Wilson, Leko
Booked: Foster, Philipps
Goal: James Morrison
STOKE CITY: Grant 6, Bardsley 7, Shawcross 7, Martins Indi 7, Pieters 7, Whelan 6, Adam 6 (Berahino 58, 5), Afellay 6 (Ngoy 69, 6), Allen 6, Arnautovic 6, Crouch 6(Diouf 58, 6)
Subs not used: Given, Muniesa, Imbula, Bony
Booked: Martins Indi, Arnautovic
STAR MAN: JAKE LIVERMORE
Match-winner James Morrison: "We're delighted with the three points, we've got a good bunch of lads here and dig deep for each other. That was a good result because Stoke are on our heels and now we've gained a bit of breathing space."
Stoke defender Erik Pieters: "We started really sloppy and tried to get the equaliser. I myself had a really good chance but overall it wasn't good enough.
"They created a few more chances in the first half and we were lucky it was only 1-0, but it just wasn't good enough."
