with a 20 yard finish after 6 minutes but just 20 seconds after the re-start when a David Beckham cross was finished off by Ruud Van Nistlerooy. United went in front 15 minutes later where Paul Scholes volleyed home a Roy Keane cross. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer settled the game late on which Albion fell below West Ham at the foot of the Premiership table.
Albion travelled to Elland Road to take on Leeds looking to get their first Premiership win since November but the even game ended all square at 0-0.
Albion’s joy in The F.A. Cup was short lived as Division One Watford were by far the better team at Vicerage Road with Heider Helguson putting the home side in the lead with an 81st minute winner after Russell Hoult saved a Dean Cox penalty earlier on in the game.
Albion goalkeeping coach Dean Kiely made some good saves to Deny Albion breaking the deadlock against Charlton at The Hawthorns which proved costly as a Shaun Bartlett from a deeply crossed Charlton corner settled the game. The game finished Albion’s miserable month of January where they picked up just one which rooted them to the foot of the table on 17 points from 24 games and 3 points from safety.
February began with a visit to Maine Road where Robbie Fowler made his debut for City as Albion were, again, backed by sell-out following. A Neil Clement header put Albion in front from a Jason
Koumas corner
in first half.
They were soon
pegged back
when a neat set
piece was
headed into his
own net by Phil
Gilchrist,
despite Foe
getting the
credits. A close
range Darren
Moore effort
won Albion the
game on the
71st minute as
another Jason
Koumas corner caused havoc
before he put
the ball past
Carlo Nash to
end Albion’s
winless run.
On the back of
that win, Albion
hosted a
relegation battle
against Bolton
but were pegged
back early on
through a close
range Pederson
finish after a
Russell Hoult
save. Albion
missed a handful of glorious chances before sub Andy Johnson levelled the game in injury time to breathe a sigh of relief around The Hawthorns.
Albion were condemned back to losing ways at Fulham’s temporary home of Loftus Road after a
quick-fire treble from Saha, Wome and a Steed Malbranque penalty settled the match. Albion didn't have much time to recover as they hosted West Ham in a relegation battle which was a must win game for both sides. A Daniele Dichio goal in between a Frank Sinclair double was not enough for The Baggies as they were left wondering how long their Premiership campaign had left before being condemned to relegation.
The Baggies then went on a run of 4 losses against Southampton, Chelsea, Birmingham and Middlesbrough. Albion failed to score in any of the games, meaning that they hadn’t scored in over 6 hours of football.
Albion looked to end this run at home to high flyers Everton where they were given a penalty which Igor Balis calmly finished to give West Brom the lead. Everton got back into the game through David Weir before Wayne Rooney capitalised on a Russell Hoult mistake to set up Kevin Campbell for the winning goal.
Albion got their first win in three trips to the North East as they played relegation rivals Sunderland. A first half Derek Mcinnes double gave Albion a much deserved victory and something for the loyal travelling army after Sunderland keeper Poom and El Karkouri collided with each other to leave Derek McInnes not being able to believe his look to
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