West Bromwich Albion's unbeaten start to their Championship season continues after Kenneth Zohore sunk another late penalty at Derby County, in a tale of penalties.
In a match where Slaven Bilic was shown a red card for his protests towards the officials for their decisions, Martyn Waghorn opened the scoring with an early spot-kick.
The Rams were awarded a second penalty when referee Gavin Ward consulted both the linesman and the fourth official when Filip Krovinovic appeared to use his shoulder when controlling the ball.
Albion were dumbfounded, and Bilic booked for his protests. Sam Johnstone, though, was the hero when he guessed right to deny Waghorn a second.
Substitute Matheus Pereira had the big impact when he was awarded a penalty in the final ten minutes, tripped up by Max Lowe.
Zohore stepped up and stroked home his second spot-kick in four days. Bilic was then given his marching orders before the final whistle.
This is how we rated the players.
ALBION (4-5-1)
Johnstone 7*
Goalkeepers don’t tend to lose really, when facing a penalty - or so they say. If you concede, it's not your fault (unless you’ve conceded the spot-kick). If you save it, you’re the hero.
Having been able to do nothing about the first Waghorn spot-kick, he pulled off a superb save for the second. He then kept Albion in it with stops to deny Marriott and Waghorn.
Ferguson 6
Burst down the right and combined with Phillips early on, beating a couple of challenges in the process. His stern shot was blocked out.
Switched over to the left in the second half and wasn’t quite as effective.
Ajayi 6
Stood up to the challenge of Marriott, who can be a real nuisance. Demonstrated a really collected presence when being chased and facing his own goal.
Aerially he and Bartley dealt with much of what was thrown at them.
Bartley 6
Much like Ajayi, Bartley didn’t do all that much wrong in the Albion back-line. There were one or two hairy moments when Waghorn and Marriott tested Johnstone, but the latter was largely kept quiet.
Let the officials know of his disgust when the second penalty was awarded.
Gibbs 3
Started shakily when he conceded a corner within seconds of kick-off. Ran the ball out of play when under no pressure, and then upended Waghorn for the first penalty, which the attacker converted.
Lasted 20 minutes before he picked up an injury and had to come off. An utterly forgettable afternoon.
Livermore 6
There won’t be many midfielders more imposing than Livermore this season, but in the form of former teammate Tom Huddlestone Albion came up against one here.
That said, Livermore - who is definitely fitter this season - got about him. Put his body on the line on a couple of occasions.
Missed a golden chance to win it.
Sawyers 6
Saw lots and lots of the ball in a first half where Albion really struggled to make much happen in the final third.
Lovely reverse pass found Phillips down the left flank, and carried the ball in his slick style throughout.
As the game dragged on, and Albion set up camp in the Derby half, he dropped deeper and attempted to find the killer ball, which eluded him.
Krovinovic 5
He’s shown flashes of really good stuff during his time with the club, but he really couldn’t get going here.
Took one ball down from Furlong and blazed it over from inside the area, and then curled a free-kick over when he really ought to have tested the goalkeeper.
Phillips 4
Really struggled to make any kind of controubution and doesn’t seem to be as fit as he was last season.
With Pereira and Diangana waiting in the wings, you have to say his place is under threat. It’ll be interesting to see how Bilic rated it when he plans for Blackburn.
Edwards 6
Caused problems for Max Lowe on the right and young Buchanan on the left, when he and Phillips swapped wings.
Decision making could’ve been better when he hit the side netting instead of looking for a teammate, but looked dangerous.
Can count himself unlucky that he was the half-time fall guy again.
Zohore 6
Missed a superb opportunity right before half time when he was played in from close range, perhaps reflecting his confidence levels.
Struggled to strike up much of a relationship with any of those behind him, but stroked home his penalty as if it was his 20th of the season.
Subs
Furlong (for Gibbs 20) - 6
Played the remainder of the first half at left-back, before swapping over to his natural right-back.
Plenty of energy, joined in attacks, but his final ball was lacking.
Diangana (for Edwards HT) - 6
Tried hard to replicate his Luton heroics, but they didn’t quite come off here. Had one low shot saved by Roos.
Gave Keogh all sorts of problems with a darting run at the end - his cross should have been converted by Livermore.
Pereira (for Phillips 71) - 6
Immediately injected life into Albion with a couple of really impressive passes.
Won the penalty, but on a single viewing from the press box, should it have been awarded?
Subs not used: Bond, Brunt, O’Shea, Austin.
Opposition
Derby: Roos, Bielik, Keogh, Lowe, Buchanan, Knight (Paterson 90), Huddlestone, Dowell, Lawrence, Waghorn (Evans, 82), Marriott (Bennett, 77)
Subs not used: Hamer, Shinnie, Clarke, Malone
GOALS
Derby - Waghorn pen. 6; Albion - Zohore pen. 84
The ref: Gavin Ward
The attendance: 26,718
Up next: Blackburn Rovers (h) Saturday 31 August (3pm)
