Football League World
·16 December 2024
Football League World
·16 December 2024
The Baggies could feel aggrieved after a refereeing decision that didn't go their way against the Hornets.
Josh Maja was fouled just before Watford's second goal in their 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion on Sunday, according to Carlos Corberan.
The infamous 11-game win streak which had mostly been compiled of draws came to an end last weekend when the Baggies fell away at Vicarage Road. A goal from Jayson Molumby with just under half an hour to play, including the eventual six added minutes, wasn't enough to inspire a comeback after Vakoun Bayo's brace.
For the striker's second strike of the afternoon, five minutes into the second half, the Ivorian took a cross on the chest inside the box and finished calmly into the bottom corner before performing an unsuccessful knee slide. But he wasn't without help.
Teammate Matthew Pollock bundled into the back of Maja, allowing Bayo to not be challenged during his attempt on goal. This incident should have led to the goal being ruled out, according to the visiting manager.
Corberan revealed that Maja felt he'd been fouled in the build up to Watford's second goal, but the Spaniard didn't solely pin his side's first defeat since the opening day of October on this flashpoint.
"They started the second half better than us," admitted the West Brom boss via the club's website. "The action of the goal is a difficult one because I thought Josh Maja had the advantage and they made a foul, but the referee didn’t see it the same way. They scored a goal from this action, which made it more difficult.
"Josh Maja said he received a foul. It’s hard because it’s difficult to accept, but I know the referee would’ve made the decision trying to be fair.
"We didn’t stop in any moment and we tried to score the two goals, but we couldn’t do more to draw the game.
"Maybe a point today would’ve been the right result, but this has not been the case. At some moments we would’ve been complaining about the draws, but today, we would have valued it a lot."
It's clear to see where the Baggies' biggest issue lies: they aren't good enough going forward. They are joint-19th with Burnley in the Championship for big chances (33), only slightly ahead of relegation-threatened Portsmouth, Queens Park Rangers, Cardiff City and Plymouth Argyle, and behind Oxford United, who have just sacked their manager.
Being at the top end of the table while not being the most effective team going forward isn't unheard of. The Clarets are third in the division, and league leaders Sheffield United have only conjured up 36 big chances this season.
It does mean that these sides are heavily reliant on certain aspects or people in their team. Maja, for example, has twice as many league goals in this campaign as any other Albion player, and only four players in the whole squad have more than one goal this season.
It's an unsustainable way of mounting a play-off push, and it's something that they need to fix if they want to keep their top six hopes alive for the remainder of the term. That is perhaps where Corberan's focus should be.