West Brom 0
Southampton 0
At the end of this bitty playoff semifinal, West Brom were left wondering what might have been after failing to find a way past the Southampton goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, who ensured Friday's second leg is finely poised.
No one was really surprised by the nature of a tight, twitchy and tough contest. "Everything we expected," said West Brom's head coach, Carlos Corberán.
Both teams, however, will look back on the 78th minute as a moment when things could have turned in their favour. McCarthy made a sprawling save to deny Grady Diangana after the busy Tom Fellows charged down the right wing, breezed past two Southampton shirts and laid the ball on a plate for his teammate.
Southampton counterattacked and the substitute Ross Stewart drove infield and his deflected shot looked set to beat Alex Palmer only for the West Brom goalkeeper, diving to his left, to hook the ball clear with his right boot. Afterwards Palmer, who this week received the Championship golden glove, likened the game to a cat-and-mouse contest.
This story is from the May 13, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the May 13, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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