Sam Allardyce got off to a losing start as West Brom manager with a 3-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Sunday.
The Baggies found themselves behind in the fifth minute when Anwar El Ghazi turned in a Bertrand Traore cross.
AFP
AFP
It was the worst possible start for former England boss Allardyce, who replaced Slaven Bilic at the Hawthorns on Wednesday.
And Big Sam’s task of rescuing a positive result became even harder when Jake Livermore was shown a straight red card for a reckless tackle on Jack Grealish by referee Martin Atkinson following a VAR check in the 36th minute.
Ollie Watkins thought he had doubled Aston Villa’s lead in the second-half, but VAR adjudged him to be offside by the slightest of margins.
Allardyce tried to switch things up by bringing on aerial threats in Branislav Ivanovic and Charlie Austin, along with joint-top scorer Callum Robinson.
AFP
However, the result was sealed in the 84th minute thanks to Traore’s superb 20-yard finish, which left West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone rooted to the spot.
It would get worse for the hosts as Sami Ajayi fouled Grealish in the box with Atkinson pointing to the spot.
And El Ghazi, who struck from the spot in Villa’s last away game, a 1-0 win over Wolves, made no mistake and completed his brace with two minutes remaining.
AFP
Villa dominated the contest having 19 shots on goal compared to just a single attempt from West Brom.
The Baggies remain second from bottom and three points from safety, while Villa climb to ninth with two games in hand on some of the teams above them.
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