West Bromwich Albion condemned struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers to a fifth straight Premier League defeat thanks to goals by captain Chris Brunt and substitute Peter Odemwingie in a 2-0 win at the Hawthorns on Sunday.
Brunt opened the scoring in the Midlands derby in the eighth minute by running on to Billy Jones' cut-back, smashing a powerful shot into the roof of the net. Odemwingie made the game safe in the 75th-three minutes after coming off the bench-when the Nigerian striker arrowed a low finish into the corner after Paul Scharner's backheel.
West Brom's first home win of the season lifted the team into mid-table, while Wolves remained just a point above the relegation zone.
Odemwingie responded to being dropped by scoring the decisive second goal as West Brom gained its first top-flight win over Wolves for 29 years in a pulsating Hawthorns clash.
It condemned Wolves to a fifth successive defeat - their worst sequence at the top level since 1984.
Baggies head coach, Roy Hodgson, also celebrated his first managerial win over his Wolves counterpart, Mick McCarthy, at the sixth attempt. Wolves had more of the play during the opening 45 minutes but the home side looked dangerous on the counter-attack.
Shane Long was a constant threat and caused plenty of problems for Wolves skipper, Roger Johnson, and his fellow defenders. After the break, Albion took command with Paul Scharner excelling in midfield and Jerome Thomas impressing on the flank. Wolves were the first to threaten and a cross from Stephen Ward found its way to Jamie O'Hara on the far side of the Albion box but his left-footed shot was blocked by debutant Billy Jones.
Baggies keeper, Ben Foster, turned aside a cross-shot from Adam Hammill after he had skipped past the challenge of Jones. But Albion went ahead through their first meaningful attack via Brunt after eight minutes.
Youssouf Mulumbu picked out the run of the over-lapping Jones and he cut the ball back across the area to Brunt who hammered a rising shot past Wayne Hennessey from 12 yards out.
Wolves retaliated and came close to equalising five minutes later. Foster blocked Milijas's low drive but the rebound fell to Doyle inside the six yard box only for Albion defender Jonas Olsson to make a superb block tackle. Wolves defender Christophe Berra became the first player to be booked after 26 minutes after a mis-timed challenge on Long.
Albion were now looking more menacing on the counter-attack. It needed a fine tackle from Ward to prevent Long doubling his team’s lead after Thomas had sent the ball into the danger area. Long then burst clear down the left flank before squaring the ball for the recalled Paul Scharner but he needed a second touch and curled his shot past the far post.
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