West Brom have certainly shown they are a team to be taken seriously after their performances against other teams this season, having beaten Man United 2-1 at Old Trafford and having held Arsenal to a 1-1 tie in the Capital One Cup before ultimately losing on penalties but then following that up with a 1-1 tie against the Gunners in the League when facing the full-strength Arsenal team. They did get thumped by Liverpool 4-1 but West Brom have shown they can score goals and defend well and are good value for their mid-table position.
Morgan Amalfitano has been a revelation for West Brom this season and he played his part in almost ending Jose Mourinho’s unbeaten home record at Stamford Bridge. It was the first time that Mourinho’s former first team coach from his first spell in charge, Steve Clarke, had faced the “Special One” as a fellow manager and Clarke showed he knows how to deal with the threats of the Blues as his team went within seconds of winning the match after second half goals from Long and Sessegnon had put West Brom 2-1 up after Eto’o’s first half strike (his 4th Chelsea goal) had given Chelsea the lead.
With many Blues fans fearing the worst and thinking that West Brom were about to register their first victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in 30 years, referee Andre Marriner made the stunning call to give Chelsea a penalty in the last minute of four extra minutes added for injury time but most people seem to agree that Ramires took a tumble very easily under a pretty harmless looking challenge from former Irish international Steven Reid. Regardless, with regular penalty taker Frank Lampard subbed, Eden Hazard stepped forward, having missed a couple of gilt-edged chances on goal earlier in the match, and calmly slotted the penalty past the on-form Boaz Myhill in the West Brom net to secure a most unlikely point for the Blues and get himself out of the boss’s dog-house as well saving Mourinho’s home record at the same time.
Chelsea are still in the top four but only just as they are only a point ahead of Everton in fifth.