da realsbet： West Brom’s lively second-half showing at the AMEX Stadium saw Slaven Bilic’s side snag a point late on thanks to a strike from summer signing Karlan Grant.
da jogodeouro： The battle of the two Albion’s ended in a 1-1 stalemate after the recent £15m arrival cancelled out an own goal from Jake Livermore just seven minutes from time.
It was perhaps a fair result with the Baggies slightly edging it on paper having recorded more possession (51%) and more shots (nine) than Brighton on the night.
Whilst Grant will quite rightly take the plaudits, scoring his first goal for the club in just his second appearance for the club, another West Brom player shone immensely.
He didn’t go into the campaign as a first-choice option nor was he one last season, but Conor Townsend is seriously starting to cement his name down as Bilic’s number one left-back option.
The 27-year-old hadn’t played in the Premier League until his start against Chelsea but going by this latest display, you wouldn’t know that.
Per SofaScore, Townsend recorded three tackles, two clearances and one interception. He also won seven duels, both aerially and on the ground, had 97 touches and made one key pass.
Prior to kick-off, he was dealt the hard task of keeping young wing-back Tariq Lamptey at bay and given the former Chelsea prospect recorded the Seagulls’ lowest rating (6.3), he evidently did his job to a tee.
Lamptey lost possession 21 times, won just 42% of his duels and failed to record a single accurate cross or even a successful dribble despite five attempts.
Townsend was tough and industrious, thus making it seem like Kieran Gibbs has an impossible test to break back into Bilic’s plans, especially as he’s not featured since his sending off against Everton.
In the past, the Baggies faithful have been fully against Townsend featuring in the starting XI, once dubbing him a “huge liability” during a game last season.
The former Hull City man is fully vindicating the faith put in him by his manager.
AND in other news, Dowling must not make an inexcusable mistake over £7m weak link…