Match Reports

Albion 2-0 Rotherham United

An image of John Swift celebrating with his teammates after scoring against Rotherham

Albion eased to a 2-0 win against Rotherham United at The Hawthorns on Wednesday evening.

First-half goals from Brandon Thomas-Asante and John Swift secured all three Sky Bet Championship points in B71, and extended the Baggies’ unbeaten run to 10 matches.

Carlos Corberán’s men return home again this Saturday, when they host Sunderland (ko 3pm).

An image of Brandon Thomas-Asante celebrating with his teammates after scoring against Rotherham

The boss handed Yann M’Vila a full debut as Adam Reach, John Swift and Tom Fellows also come into the XI - and Okay Yokuslu started for his 100th Albion appearance.

Swift, Bartley and Thomas-Asante all had chances before the opener came midway through the first period. A great, flowing move saw Mikey Johnston set Reach free down the left, and his pinpoint pull-back was converted by ‘BTA’.

An image of Brandon Thomas-Asante tapping in against Rotherham

The visitors did have a few spells but the Baggies mostly controlled proceedings, and they found a second just ahead of the interval.

The referee awarded Albion a penalty for handball, despite strong Rotherham protests that the incident was outside the area, and Swift made no mistake, firing down the middle to make it 2-0.

An image of John Swift celebrating his goal against Rotherham

Leam Richardson’s Millers created more in the second half and threatened via Ollie Rathbone and Sam Clucas - who struck wide - and Seb Revan’s effort, which Alex Palmer saved comfortably.

Down the other end, Thomas-Asante had a couple of opportunities to notch his brace, seeing a chip denied and then poking over at close-range.

Corberán introduced Maja for the final six minutes as he came back from a lengthy spell on the sidelines, and his team saw out the last stages to secure the spoils.

Albion: Palmer; Furlong, Kipre (Ajayi 64), Bartley, Reach; Fellows (Phillips 75), Yokuslu (Chalobah 64), M’Vila, Johnston (Diangana 64); Swift, Thomas-Asante (Maja 83).

Substitutes: Griffiths, Townsend, Mowatt, Weimann.

Attendance: 22,331 (179)