West Brom continued their phenomenal kind beneath new supervisor Carlos Corberan on Monday as they earned a 1-0 win over Studying to maneuver inside one level of the Championship playoffs.
Daryl Dike’s header was sufficient to seal the three factors for the Baggies, making certain that they’d win for the fifth dwelling sport in a row with out conceding a aim, with a promotion push now definitely on the playing cards regardless of the woeful begin to the season beneath Steve Bruce.
Whereas Dike will dominate the headlines after scoring the one aim of the sport, it was arguably Conor Townsend who was Corberan’s star performer in opposition to the Royals.
As per Sofascore, the previous Scunthorpe United man would earn a formidable 7.6/10 ranking for his efficiency on Tuesday, with solely Dike (7.8) rated increased of each participant to function within the sport.
Townsend was definitely unfortunate to not open the scoring when he crashed a header in opposition to the submit within the first half, though his general efficiency definitely warranted a aim.
Through the 90 minutes, the left-back would contribute 4 clearances, one interception and three tackles, which is much more spectacular when you think about that he has averaged simply 1.6 tackles and 1.9 clearances within the Championship up to now this marketing campaign.
Towards a harmful Studying right-hand aspect that includes Junior Hoilett and Tom Ince, the 29-year-old was utterly dominant, successful all 5 of his aerial and floor duels on the Hawthorns.
Nonetheless, it wasn’t simply his defending that made his efficiency so good, as he additionally contributed two key passes and two pictures throughout the sport, each of that are an enchancment on his common of 0.7 pictures and one key cross per sport within the second tier.
Townsend has labored his approach up via the divisions and is constant to ship on the high finish of the Championship for Corberan, which journalist Chris Lepkowski seemingly predicted when praising the defender again in 2021 on the West Brom podcast The Liquidator.
He mentioned: “There’s no scarcity of endeavour there, I believe all of us admire that he isn’t probably the most technically adept left-back, however by way of endeavour and enterprise, he’s very good. You recognize each week that he’ll put a shift in, he might make errors, he might not all the time get that ultimate ball heading in the right direction or the cross heading in the right direction, however you already know you’re going to get a really stable defensive show.”
Had Townsend’s first-half header discovered the online, then he certainly would have been recognised because the man-of-the-match on Tuesday however his general show arguably places him forward of Dike because the star performer in Corberan’s aspect.
