Albion don’t really do regulation 2-0 wins at the moment, but that’s what we saw at the Hawthorns on Saturday moving the Baggies back into third place but now just a point behind the leaders.
It wasn’t like the exciting game we saw on Tuesday, but Albion rarely looked troubled at the back with the exception of Sam Johnstone’s rush of blood which saw Craig Dawson clear off the line.
Chris Brunt did little to justify Moore’s decision to recall him to the starting line up and, up front, the Baggies struggled before the break but looked far more dangerous in the second half. Ahmed Hegazi had probably his best game of the season and it was his header that eventually made it’s way to Gayle via ‘keeper and bar for the on loan striker to open the scoring. A first clean sheet of the season was, perhaps, the most pleasing aspect of the afternoon.
When compared with previous promotion challenges, the class of 2018 are now only bettered by their 2003 and 2009 counterparts in terms of points. The omens for game 10, however, are not great with four home wins and two away defeats in the past six second tier campaigns, and we’re on the road next weekend at Preston.
| 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 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 6th | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 6th | 74 |
| 2001/2002 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 7 | 16 | 5th | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 2nd | 89 |
| 2003/2004 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 9 | 19 | 3rd | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 2nd | 86 |
| 2006/2007 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 10th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 4th | 76 |
| 2007/2008 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 19 | 8 | 17 | 3rd | 4 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 1st | 81 |
| 2009/2010 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 20 | 8 | 20 | 2nd | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 10 | 2nd | 91 |
| 2018/2019 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 12 | 17 | 3rd | 4 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 5 | ||
Results
| 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) | W | 2-0 | Gayle, Gibbs |
Next Matches
| 2000/2001 | 30/09/2000 | Blackburn Rovers (H) | W | 1-0 | Hughes |
| 2001/2002 | 29/09/2001 | Burnley (H) | W | 1-0 | Dobie |
| 2003/2004 | 30/09/2003 | Millwall (H) | W | 2-1 | Koumas, Dobie |
| 2006/2007 | 30/09/2006 | Leeds United (H) | W | 4-2 | Albrechtsen, Kamara (2), Phillips |
| 2007/2008 | 06/10/2007 | Southampton (A) | L | 2-3 | Koren (2) |
| 2009/2010 | 29/09/2009 | Barnsley (A) | L | 1-3 | Brunt |
| 2018/2019 | 29/09/2018 | Preston North End (A) |