West Brom 1-0 Coventry: Grady Diangana sweeps home to provide difference in midlands derby

Grady Diangana’s first-half strike was the only goal in a gripping Midlands derby as West Brom defeated Coventry 1-0 at The Hawthornes to return to playoff contention.

It took 15 minutes for West Brom to take the lead, with Diangana sweeping the ball into the back of the net for her fourth goal of the season, after Jed Wallace hit a monster throw-in from Daniel Furlong.

It is the sixth consecutive win for the Baggies at home without conceding a goal with manager Carlos Corberán praising his players after the game.

Grady Diangana (right) celebrates scoring the only goal in West Brom’s 1-0 win against Coventry

“The team’s performance deserved the three points,” he said after the final whistle. ‘I’m very happy for them when they achieve something important.

‘Grady Diangana got the winning goal for us and I think it was one of his best performances for the club since I arrived. He played all 90 minutes and helped us attack and defend. It’s always positive when players perform as well as Grady did tonight.

‘I didn’t find any player who wasn’t performing at the level that the game demanded.

‘I was satisfied with both sides of our game. You have to do well at both ends of the field and sometimes when you have the advantage you have to protect yourself.

Both sides had chances in the match with Viktor Gyokeres missing early in the match.

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the home side, who were put to the test early by Coventry, with Viktor Gyokeres almost putting the visitors a goal up, squaring off a cross on goal.

Despite the score, it was a breathless first half, with Daryl Dike also fending off a very close header early on.

Marc Albrighton and Wallace were imperious down the right flank, causing some trouble for Coventry defenders Brooke Norton-Duffy and Jamie Allen, with Wallace firing a shot just wide of the bottom left corner just before half time.

The goal was Diangana’s fourth goal of the season with their last comeback coming in December.

Coventry could have halved the lead on 77 minutes, with Gyokeres receiving the ball in the center of the penalty area and firing his shot well over the crossbar, a respite for the Baggies.

Sky Blues boss Mark Robins admitted after the game that he had no problem with the result, saying: “We could have picked up a few points but I have no complaints with the result.” It was the start of the game that cost us.

“We have some young players and we’re playing against a quality team and they added to that in the window, they have championship players out of the box and some who have played in the Premier League so we know what we’re up against.” most of the time

Viktor Gyokeres had two great scoring chances, sending his second over the crossbar.

Coventry manager Mark Robins “had no complaints with the result” after losing 1-0 early

“The mentality was not right, allowing a team of any quality to dictate to us and we have to change that and it’s difficult with young players, but we have to try to change that.”

West Brom will now face off in another Midlands derby against Birmingham City on Friday night and will hope to come away with three points against the Blues, who have lost their last five league games.

Meanwhile, Coventry will welcome Luton, who sit fourth in the Championship standings having won four of their last five matches.