As the first half of Albion’s Sky Bet Championship clash with Millwall drew to a close, the scoreline remained the same as the final result from the last four meetings between the two teams at The Hawthorns - goalless.
The Baggies were patient and managed to generate an xG (Expected Goals) of 0.98, harnessing a 71 per cent share of the ball at the same time, but they hadn’t quite turned the screw in the same way as they did against Southampton the Tuesday prior - owing, in part, to the Londoners' defensive block.
But the second half brought with it a change of emphasis from James Morrison’s men, and it told in the 3-0 scoreline.
For starters, the hosts were far less patient, and even more effective going forward - amassing 2.14 xG across the second period - doing so with less possession of the ball (54 per cent) and a lower pass accuracy (87 per cent in the first, to 81 per cent in the second).
Isaac Price was an integral element of their change in fortunes, notching a goal and an assist, the former coming on the 50th-minute mark.
The Northern Irishman received the ball in a central area from Jayson Molumby (more on him later), then drove through the fragmented Millwall midfield, letting the space and the picture open up ahead to wrap the ball into the bottom left corner (0.05 xG) for the opener.
Price, who often moved into the centre of midfield as the Baggies flowed fluidly from one side of the field to the other, finished the match having created more chances than any other player on the pitch (5).
From the goal onwards, the Lions were forced to alter their game plan and had to play their way back into Saturday’s encounter, leaving plenty of gaps in their seemingly once-impermeable structure and a larger share of possession compared to the opening stages.
And it’s a testament to Morrison’s commitment to adding to the scoreline, which saw Albion look to exploit those gaps - he underlined this with his substitutions when bringing Barney Stewart, Felix Horn Myhre and Kareem Tunde into the frantic second-tier fray.
All three had their impact on proceedings, with Stewart keeping the Millwall centre-halves occupied, as Aune Heggebø did in the first period, then Myhre and Tunde having a sizeable say on Saturday's match.
The Spaniard bundled through a tackle for the second, while his dancing feet set Price away to assist the third, one of his two successful dribbles (66 per cent success rate) after coming on; on the other hand, the Norwegian stroked home the third and can claim he was unfortunate not to be credited with the assist for Molumby’s goal.
Myhre ended the match with the second-highest touches in the opposition box (4), despite only playing half an hour, and has gained a reputation for buzzing in open pockets next to a more physical striker, as he did in this match alongside Stewart.
The defence continued to weather somewhat of a storm at points from Alex Neil’s outfit too, as they sent plenty of long balls into the box, with the likes of Nat Phillips and Chris Mepham remaining resolute against the aerial challenges.
But they may not have been so far ahead in the scoreline had it not been for midfielder Molumby, who claimed the Player of the Match award, along with two goal contributions at the Shrine.
His all-action display saw him end the match with five defensive contributions and five ball recoveries, while his goal was scored from a unique 1.00 xG - topping off an impressive showing at the Shrine from the entire team.
