West Brom ended a four-game winless run in the Championship in emphatic fashion last night, romping to a 3-0 victory at Sheffield Wednesday.
Charlie Austin’s first half penalty had the Baggies in front at the interval before two goals from Matheus Pereira rounded off the win and ensured that Albion’s four-match league run without a goal was ended with conviction.
The Baggies are now five points clear of third-placed Brentford as they strengthen their hold on an automatic promotion berth, with Slaven Bilic’s radical reshuffle paying dividends as five changes were made to his starting line-up from last week’s defeat to the Bees.
One of those to come into the side was Dara O’Shea at right-back and the Irish youngster may just have given his manager plenty of food for thought with a fine display at Hillsborough.
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Making his first start since the Swansea game just before lockdown, the 21-year-old posted some impressive figures from his night’s work against the Owls. As per WhoScored, he ended the match with two successful tackles, two interceptions and three clearances, while also coming out on top in two aerial duels.
He also drew the penalty from which West Brom took the lead, with Moses Odubajo on the wrong side of him and restoring to tugging on the Albion man’s shirt in the penalty area, with referee David Webb having no hesitation in pointing to the spot and giving Austin the chance to open the scoring (as per Sky Sports).
O’Shea’s performance was commended by Birmingham Live reporter Joseph Chapman, who awarded him an eight in his player ratings and hailed the right-back’s “particularly mature display against seasoned, talented opponents”, adding that “[Kadeem] Harris proved a real menace on the wing in the first half, but O’Shea for his part cut out most of the danger with his usual no-nonsense approach”.
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Having come in to the team in place of Darnell Furlong, the 21-year-old Irishman has made a very strong case to remain in Bilic’s starting line-up for Sunday’s clash against Hull. The manager may now have a pleasant selection headache for the right-back slot this weekend.
West Brom fans, how impressed were you by O’Shea’s performance against Sheffield Wednesday? Comment below with your views!
