West Bromwich Albion drew 0-0 with Newcastle United at The Hawthorns in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.
Despite plenty of chances for both sides throughout the game, the deadlock could not be broken and in a match where both teams needed a win, it ended goalless.
For The Baggies, this was their third draw in five, and failure to win means Sam Allardyce’s side remain in deep relegation trouble, sitting eight points inside the drop zone.
The visitors move a point further away from the bottom three but are still well involved in the relegation battle.
Story of the match
Allardyce named an unchanged line-up for the third consecutive game whilst Newcastle made three changes, with Jeff Hendrick, Paul Dummett, and Ryan Fraser coming into the starting 11.
The Magpies would be without Miguel Almiron and Allan Saint-Maximin after both were ruled out for a few weeks through injuries. Matt Ritchie was on the bench after news of a bust-up with Steve Bruce broke in midweek.
These injuries for Bruce’s side left the visitors attack without much pace and trickery, however, in the opening stages, they looked the better of the two teams.
Joelinton was slotted through by Joe Willock, but after opting to pass rather than shoot, Darnell Furlong was able to rush back and cut out the square ball by the Brazilian.
West Brom then began to settle in the game and had a good amount of chances to open the scoring in the first half. Matheus Pereira had a volley saved well by Martin Dubravka, before the Slovakian made another stop to keep out a header from Mbaye Diagne.
Just before the break, Matt Phillips, who had been involved in almost every attack for the Baggies, slid a tantalizing ball across the six-yard box that managed to somehow evade both his teammates and the defenders in its path.
Ten minutes into the second half, the hosts had a huge chance to break the deadlock. Conor Townsend’s cut-back was met by Phillips who somehow blazed his shot over from six-yards.
More chances followed and this time it was Newcastle with an opportunity. Willock found space in the box and tried to catch Sam Johnstone out at his near post but the goalkeeper was equal to it.
Diagne could well have had himself two or three goals on Sunday afternoon. The January signing was found multiple times throughout the game, however, he struggled to hit the target with both his head and his feet.
Despite efforts from both sides to grab an important winner, the game ended goalless. The result will not please either team as they both remain in relegation trouble.
Takeaway
West Brom have to turn draws into wins
This was West Brom’s third draw in their last five games and if they are wanting to stay in the Premier League they need to turn them into wins.
The Baggies have had no shortage of chances in recent weeks but it’s finding the winning goal that is the problem. Allardyce will be happy with his team’s improvement defensively and now needs to turn his attention to the other end of the pitch.
New signing Diagne struggled on Sunday afternoon and despite finding himself in great positions he failed to finish.
Allardyce’s side have had big opportunities to win the game in all three of their matches in the past week but wins don’t come from chances and it’s the wins that they desperately need at the moment.
If West Brom are wanting to survive this season, it is massively important to become more clinical in front of goal and to pick up vital wins heading into the business end of the campaign.