The Baggies moved into third place in the table after a 4-2 win over Bristol City that wasn’t as straightforward as the result might suggest. The Robins had some excellent chances before a Rodriguez penalty put the Baggies ahead, and some great attacking play and clinical finishing put Albion three up at the break.
Nervousness surrounding the Baggies back line meant that the three points never seemed entirely secure despite City never closing the deficit to less than two goals, but Albion held out for a welcome three points and they kept their spot at the top of the Championship scoring charts with 20 goals in 8 games.
The Baggies now have more points than they did at the same stage in the successful 2001/2 season (in game 8 Albion lost at home to Wimbledon thanks to a last minute Neil Shipperley strike), but the other three successful promotion sides had better points tallies at this stage.
No Albion side has scored more goals in their first eight games of the season since Vic Buckingham’s team of 1958 scored 21 goals including six goal away wins at Birmingham and Portsmouth. Robbie di Matteo’s side in 2009 also managed 20 goals including a 5-0 away win at Boro, as did Jimmy Hagan’s team in 1966, although they also conceded 18 in a run of results including a 5-1 win over Fulham, a 5-3 defeat to Manchester Utd and a 5-4 defeat to Everton.
| 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 | |
| 2000/2001 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 8th | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 6th | 74 |
| 2001/2002 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 8th | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2nd | 89 |
| 2003/2004 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 9 | 16 | 3rd | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 2nd | 86 |
| 2006/2007 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 9th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4th | 76 |
| 2007/2008 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 7 | 16 | 2nd | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 1st | 81 |
| 2009/2010 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 7 | 20 | 1st | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 10 | 2nd | 91 |
| 2018/2019 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 12 | 14 | 3rd | 3 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 5 | ||
Results
| 2000/2001 | 17/09/2000 | Birmingham City (H) | D | 1-1 | Taylor |
| 2001/2002 | 22/09/2001 | Wimbledon (H) | L | 0-1 | |
| 2003/2004 | 20/09/2003 | Crystal Palace (A) | D | 2-2 | Hulse, Koumas |
| 2006/2007 | 16/09/2006 | Southend United (H) | D | 1-1 | Ellington |
| 2007/2008 | 30/09/2007 | Queen’s Park Rangers (H) | W | 5-1 | Phillips (2), Miller, Koren, Greening |
| 2009/2010 | 19/09/2009 | Middlesbrough (A) | W | 5-0 | Brunt (2), Mulumbu, Bednar, Thomas |
| 2018/2019 | 18/09/2018 | Bristol City (H) | W | 4-2 | Rodriguez (2, 1 pen), Gayle, Barnes |
Next Matches
| 2000/2001 | 23/09/2000 | Portsmouth (A) | W | 1-0 | Roberts |
| 2001/2002 | 25/09/2001 | Portsmouth (A) | W | 2-1 | Clement, Dobie |
| 2003/2004 | 27/09/2003 | Stoke City (H) | W | 1-0 | Dobie |
| 2006/2007 | 23/09/2006 | Luton Town (A) | D | 2-2 | Carter, Gera |
| 2007/2008 | 03/10/2007 | Stoke City (H) | D | 1-1 | Barnett |
| 2009/2010 | 26/09/2009 | Crystal Palace (H) | L | 0-1 | |
| 2018/2019 | 22/09/2018 | Millwall (H) |