West Brom player ratings gallery vs Coventry - one earns 9/10, five score 8s, but one gets 4

Player ratings from West Bromwich Albion 1-0 Coventry City in the Championship, as one player scores 9/10, five earn 8s, but one gets 4.

West Bromwich Albion soared back into the Sky Bet Championship playoff spots with a narrow 1-0 victory over Coventry City in a Midlands derby on Friday evening. Carlos Corberan’s men responded well to two consecutive defeats by putting right their wrongs, going on to claim all three points thanks to Grady Diangana’s goal in the opening quarter of an hour. The Hawthorns, once again, proved to be a fortress as tonight’s result was the seventh consecutive win-to-nil at home for Albion.

It was an entertaining, end-to-end start but it was the hosts who managed to break the deadlock within 15 minutes. Back to a classic long throw approach, Darnell Furlong launched the ball into the penalty area and the ball was flicked on toward the far post by Jed Wallace. Wideman Grady Diangana was in the right place at the right time to stab the ball home, sending the home support into a frenzy.

Albion took plenty of confidence from their opener as they went on to record an impressive dozen shots in the opening 35 minutes, though Coventry did look threatening on the counter, making for a good watch. Okay Yokuslu went down for treatment for a few minutes, allowing those on the field to have a bit of a breather. The Turk was fine to continue, but it slowed the pace down somewhat.

Throughout the interval, there was plenty of chatter about how well new signing Marc Albrighton had settled in after just three full days at the football club. The Premier League winner linked up very well with Wallace in particular, forming quite an early partnership through the centre and right flank. The likes of Okay Yokuslu and Grady Diangana were also impressive.

Heading into the second period, the visitors got back into things a little more and managed to generate their first shot on target as Gustavo Hamer’s powerful free-kick tested David Button. The man between the sticks was able to parry the ball away well, but it gave the Sky Blues some confidence for the last 20 minutes or so, as they made a positive triple substitution.

Corberan’s men were put under plenty of pressure but they were able to soak it up effectively. Albion’s resoluteness was summed up by a Dara O’Shea a moment of fierce bravery, as he put his body on the line with a few minutes to go and took a powerful Hamer effort straight to the face.

Although some shaky passes and sloppy throw-aways of possession toward the end, the Baggies were able to hold on for the all-important three points. Here are our player ratings from the game, including one nine, four eights and a four.

See below.

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