Stoke City have been the recipient of their third loss in thirteen matches against Tony Pulis’ men, who nicked the three points in dramatic fashion, as Jonny Evans poked the ball home to subdue Mark Hughes' side.
A mellow first half
West Brom started the first half more keenly than the traveling side, keeping the bulk of possession comfortably in the early stages of the match. Stoke seemed to be playing a much more defensive style of football than that seen earlier in the season. It was a rather dubious move from the Stoke manager, whose side have beaten the toughest of opponents in an aggressive manner of football recently.
To go from this entertaining and attacking form of football to what was on show at the Hawthorns; the Stoke side looked different. This was perhaps the main reason why the travelling side lost today.
Throughout the first half, both sides looked shy in front of goal, lacking the certain flair and finish required to beat either goalkeeper. But yet again, the pendulum swung in favour of West Brom as their set pieces consistently threatened the Stoke goal with Evans and Craig Dawson looking particularly menacing in front of the Stoke goal. Jack Butland continued to look impressive between the sticks was presented with plenty of work to do to prevent the away side from going down.
Even though corners were thrown in from the home side, Stoke did have the opportunity to press their advantage in this match as the repetitive link up play between Xherdan Shaqiri and Johnson began to plague the Baggies defence. However, the final shot from Shaqiri lacked the quality to beat Boaz Myhill in goal. The match seemed to be destined to finish nil-nil.
An eventful second
Early in the second half, the Baggies' persistent attacks in the first half was rewarded as Darren Fletcher began the phase of play for opening goal with a driving run, before picking out James Morrison. He played a perfectly waited ball to Stephane Sessegnon, who rifled the ball into the net past Butland from inside the area.
The second half was much the same story as the first. Stoke were looking relatively sluggish in front of goal and in the Baggies continue to threat from impressive crosses that kept the Potters on the back foot. However, in keeping with the quality of Stoke's play in recent weeks, they found a glimmer of hope in the match.
Jonathan Walters sprinted to get on the end of a Joselu cross, which was perfectly placed for the Irishman. His thunderous header sailed past Myhill, who was unable to prevent the goalbound effort; out of nowhere, Stoke had found a way back into the game and they suddenly looked the more likely to come away with three points.
More drama was to come minutes later, however, as Stoke were reduced to 10 men after Geoff Cameron’s altercation with Claudio Yacob. This resulted in the Potters losing their midfielder, as his push on the West Brom man persuaded the referee to brandish the red card. With only ten minutes to go Stoke's momentum was gone.
As stoppage time began to ebb away, West Brom were able to snatch it at the death. Jonny Evans got the final, and most crucial, touch of the game. It was absolute chaos in the build-up, but the Baggies came out on top to bring the Potters back down to earth after ending their best run in the Premier League this campaign.