Sport

Nine-man West Brom just fall short

BLACKPOOL 2 WEST BROM 1: TO ROBERTO Di Matteo’s list of qualities we should add foresight

ANDY HUNTER at Bloomfield
Tue Nov 02 2010 - 00:00

BLACKPOOL 2 WEST BROM 1:TO ROBERTO Di Matteo's list of qualities we should add foresight. The West Bromwich Albion manager had voiced his dislike of Mondays before the trip to Blackpool but listening to the Boomtown Rats on loop could not have prepared the Italian for this ordeal.

Albion had two men sent off inside the first half hour at Bloomfield Road as 25-year-old referee Michael Oliver earned himself a place in the Hawthorns’ hall of infamy.

The Premier League’s youngest ever official harshly dismissed Pablo Ibanez after only 10 minutes and was given no choice but to show a second red card to Gonzalo Jara for a wild lunge.

The visitors had started with the confidence and freedom expected of a side revelling in its return to the top flight, and facing a Blackpool team that had lost four of its last five league games.

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Charlie Adam sent DJ Campbell into space on the right of the Albion area. Campbell checked inside but was obstructed by Ibanez as he turned. A clear penalty. To Ibanez’s horror, and widespread disbelief, Oliver punished the offence with a red card and Adam duly maximised the insult by driving his spot-kick through the grasp of Scott Carson.

Nearing the 30 minute mark came a second red card and this time Albion could have no complaint. Luke Varney miss-controlled a crossfield pass from Taylor-Fletcher but just managed to keep the ball in play at the corner flag. He was going nowhere, the ball was rolling out, and yet Jara flew in with a two-footed challenge that demanded red. Quite rightly, it came. Just after the hour mark Varney slid in from an onside position to convert.

Five minutes from time Mulumbu pulled one back to make it a nervy final few minutes for the home side.

Guardian Service

BLACKPOOL: Gilks, Eardley (Phillips 57), Cathcart (Carney 57), Evatt, Crainey, Grandin, Adam, Vaughan, Taylor-Fletcher, Campbell, Varney (Keinan 71). Subs Not Used: Kingson, Southern, Harewood, Sylvestre. Booked: Adam, Keinan. Goals: Adam 12 pen, Varney 62.

WEST BROM: Carson, Jara, Pablo, Tamas, Shorey, Brunt, Mulumbu, Scharner, Thomas (Barnes 71), Fortune (Dorrans 35), Cox (Reid 14). Subs Not Used: Myhill, Cech, Tchoyi, Bednar. Sent Off: Pablo (11), Jara (29). Booked: Mulumbu, Reid, Scharner. Goals: Mulumbu 85.

Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland).