West Bromwich Albion 1-0 Blackpool: Carlos Corberan earns first win as Baggies boss

Well, Yokslow pulled off a late win to give West Bromwich Albion their first win under new coach Carlos Corbran and only their third win in the tournament this season.

Michael Beaches’ Michael Appleton produced a solid defensive performance against the hosts, albeit with a bit of offensive momentum.

They seemed to be heading to a valuable point until Yoxlow swooped in to lift Albion from under the table.

It was a humbling and strained relationship at The Hawthorns. Albion fans, dissatisfied with the club’s owners, expressed their displeasure by displaying their cellphone torches as the stadium clock chimed 12 minutes – a reference to the £12m amount owed in loans outstanding.

There were very few rays of light on the field, and neither side was able to impose any kind of control during the first half hour of the match.

Karlan Grant should have done a better job in the 32nd minute. The Albion man raced from a position on the side to get to the Yukslow Pass. The former Huddersfield striker turned defender, only to put a low shot into the arms of Chris Maxwell.

Kyle Bartley approached the hosts before the end of the first half, only to see his header, from John Swift’s corner, which was easily hit by the Blackpool goalkeeper.

Baggies continued to press after the break. Matt Phillips hit the crossbar in the 49th minute after he thrust down the right wing and cut with his left foot.

Sonny Carey was fortunate not to be penalized in the 53rd minute when he rebounded on the ball, allowing Jed Wallace to claim possession. The Albion winger chose to send a pass across the field to Phillips, who cut the ball off to Swift – his shot went wide of Maxwell’s goal.

On the other end, Blackpool began to impose more of its own threat as the game began to open up.

CJ Hamilton showed the lead in the 75th minute when he was found from a pass from the right wing. His shot deflected away from a corner kick. That was as good as it got for the visitors.

Albion declared victory through ex-Celta Vigo player Yokoslo, who was the quickest to respond to Baggies’ late corner that Blackpool failed to tackle. He handed Albion their first home win since their 5-2 victory over Hull in August.

West Brom coach Carlos Corbran said:

“I think the team was doing everything they could to win the three points. It was a well deserved win.

“We have a difficult situation to face. This will not change after one win. We need to be ready to fight a lot in every game to get the results we want to achieve.

‘Perform him [Yokuslu] It was excellent, not just because of the goal. I don’t remember losing the ball and he really competed.

“We had to be more than just patient, but we needed to understand how we could create an advantage. In some moments we attacked well, in some moments we did not attack well.”