Back-to-back wins at the start of a Premier League season for the first time put the Baggies in second place in the table on Saturday evening, their highest ever position in the Premier League, although Huddersfield’s win on Sunday pushed Albion down to third.
It is the first time that the Baggies have won their opening two league fixtures since 1997 when Ray Harford’s team beat Tranmere Rovers 2-1 at the Hawthorns on the opening day thanks to goals from Kevin Kilbane and Andy Hunt, and followed that up with a 3-2 win at Gresty Road with an Andy Hunt penalty and two late goals from Lee Hughes seeing off Crewe Alexandra.
The last time Albion won the first two games of a top flight season was in 1978 when a 2-1 home win over Ipswich Town was followed up by a 1-0 win at QPR.
The Baggies’ match winner joined a select group of players to have scored and then be sent off after coming on as a substitute in the Premier League. Hal Robson-Kanu joins David Lee (for Chelsea against Sheffield Wednesday, 1993), Bobby Zamora (for West Ham United against Fulham in 2007) and Ivan Klasnić (for Bolton Wanderers against Stoke City, 2010) as the only players to have achieved the feat in the Premier League.
Home | Away | Season End | ||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Posn* | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Posn | Pts | |
2002/2003 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 18th | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19th | 26 |
2004/2005 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12th | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 17th | 34 |
2005/2006 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6th | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19th | 30 |
2008/2009 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 19th | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20th | 32 |
2010/2011 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 11th | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 11th | 47 |
2011/2012 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 19th | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 10th | 47 |
2012/2013 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4th | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8th | 49 |
2013/2014 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 16th | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17th | 36 |
2014/2015 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12th | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13th | 44 |
2015/2016 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 17th | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14th | 43 |
2016/2017 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8th | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10th | 45 |
2017/2018 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2nd | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
Comparison of Equivalent Fixtures^ | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
2016/2017 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
2016/2017 Results | Burnley (A) | D | 2-2 | ||||
Stoke City (H) | W | 1-0 |
Results
2002/2003 | 24/08/2002 | Leeds United (H) | L | 1-3 | Marshall |
2004/2005 | 22/08/2004 | Aston Villa (H) | D | 1-1 | Clement |
2005/2006 | 20/08/2005 | Portsmouth (H) | W | 2-1 | Horsfield (2) |
2008/2009 | 23/08/2008 | Everton (H) | L | 1-2 | Bednar (pen) |
2010/2011 | 21/08/2010 | Sunderland (H) | W | 1-0 | Odemwingie |
2011/2012 | 20/08/2011 | Chelsea (A) | L | 1-2 | Long |
2012/2013 | 25/08/2012 | Tottenham Hotspur (A) | D | 1-1 | Morrison |
2013/2014 | 24/08/2013 | Everton (A) | D | 0-0 | |
2014/2015 | 23/08/2014 | Southampton (A) | D | 0-0 | |
2015/2016 | 15/08/2015 | Watford (A) | D | 0-0 | |
2016/2017 | 20/08/2016 | Everton (H) | L | 1-2 | McAuley |
2017/2018 | 19/08/2017 | Burnley (A) | W | 1-0 | Robson-Kanu |
Next Matches
2002/2003 | 27/08/2002 | Arsenal (A) | L | 2-5 | Dobie, Roberts |
2004/2005 | 25/08/2004 | Tottenham Hotspur (H) | D | 1-1 | Gera |
2005/2006 | 24/08/2005 | Chelsea (A) | L | 0-4 | |
2008/2009 | 30/08/2008 | Bolton Wanderers (A) | D | 0-0 | |
2010/2011 | 29/08/2010 | Liverpool (A) | L | 0-1 | |
2011/2012 | 28/08/2011 | Stoke City (H) | L | 0-1 | |
2012/2013 | 01/09/2012 | Everton (H) | W | 2-0 | Long, McAuley |
2013/2014 | 01/09/2013 | Swansea City (H) | L | 0-2 | |
2014/2015 | 30/08/2014 | Swansea City (A) | L | 0-3 | |
2015/2016 | 23/08/2015 | Chelsea (H) | L | 2-3 | Morrison (2) |
2016/2017 | 28/08/2016 | Middlesbrough (H) | D | 0-0 | |
2017/2018 | 27/08/2017 | Stoke City (H) |
* Positions are recorded as Albion’s position in the Premier League table after all fixtures for that day have been completed.
^ Fixtures against promoted clubs are compared against fixtures against the relegated clubs from last season with the club finishing 1st in the Championship compared against the club finishing 18th in the Premier League, 2nd compared with 19th and the play-off winners compared against the club who finished bottom.