Shilen Patel’s big night did not produce the result he wanted, but West Bromwich Albion fans will suffer the blow of a defeat if he brings a long-term change of fortune.
Goals from Ryan Fraser and David Brooks gave Southampton, other promotion contenders, a victory that put them back in the top two of the championship, at least for a few hours.
For home fans, however, it was about celebrating a new beginning off the field, with a takeover set to be officially completed next week.
Investor Patel flew in from Florida to take a seat in The Hawthorns’ directors’ box, less than 24 hours after agreeing a £60million deal to buy the club from unpopular owner Guochuan Lai.
Fans are hopeful Patel will bring much-needed financial muscle to Albion after almost eight years of uncertainty and lack of investment under Lai.
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The deal is set to be completed next week, and the potential new chairman was greeted with cheers before kick-off, only to see West Brom get off to the worst possible start.
Carlos Corberán was sent to the stands in strange circumstances with just six minutes played, after referee Sam Allison noticed that the coach had strayed from his technical area and touched the ball with his foot while it was still in play.
The hosts, struggling to keep up with Southampton’s rapid passing, almost gave away a goal when Sekou Mara intercepted a loose pass from Alex Palmer to set up Adam Armstrong one-on-one, but the goalkeeper atoned for his mistake by reaching out to block the shot.
It was only a brief respite as Southampton scored just before the quarter-hour mark, when Fraser found space at the far post to head in a classy volley from Stuart Armstrong’s first cross following a penalty corner.
For a while it looked like West Brom were going to sink, but they grew into the game and were unlucky not to be level at half-time when John Swift fired a 25-yard shot just wide.
Darnell Furlong then had a penalty appeal turned down when his header hit the arm of Jack Stephens, who seconds later cleared under his own crossbar after Okay Yokuslu took a corner.
However, Albion struggled to build on that momentum in the second half, and were finished off in the 73rd minute, when Brooks collected fellow substitute Samuel Edozie’s square pass and scored his first goal since arriving on loan from Bournemouth at the end of the month. past.
Still, Corberan’s players did not give up, but it was not their night, as demonstrated when Gavin Bazunu jumped brilliantly to parry a Jan Bednarek header.