West Brom head coach Carlos Corberan was delighted with West Brom’s aggression in the Baggies’ 3-1 victory over fellow play-off contenders Hull.
Corberan’s side have now lost only one of their last 10 championship fixtures and the victory over Hull also carried on their excellent home record over Hull, with Albion now unbeaten in nine against the Tigers.
Captain Jed Wallace gave Albion the lead on 14 minutes before they were pegged back just before half-time by a Lewie Coyle strike.
Matt Phillips and substitute Semi Ajayi netted in the second half to give the hosts all three points.
Corberan believed his side played well against one of the Championship’s most competitive teams.
“I’m pleased because we were playing a very competitive game, I knew it would be because I respect Hull City; they have put together good players with a good coach,” Corberan said.
“We were playing against one of the most competitive teams in the Championship and it was a massive defensive display to see if we could be solid and aggressive at the same time.
“The team was solid and we only made one mistake and it was their goal.
“In the second half we were more aggressive and attacked better and that for me was why we scored the goals.
“The way we scored the second goal it was one of the nicest goals we scored and with this goal the belief of the players, the confidence of the players in the way they kept competing was for me excellent.”
The head coach was also delighted with the display of Grady Diangana, who assisted both goals in the second half.
“He is one special player; we are really pleased to see him scoring goals and giving assists because he is very important to the other players in attack,” Corberan said.
“The fact we have more injuries in attack has helped him get more minutes, with these minutes he’s using them very well.”
Hull head coach Liam Rosenior could not oversee a first win for his side at the Hawthorns since a 3-0 victory in the Premier League in 2008.
The Tigers dropped to ninth in the Championship and Rosenior was frustrated at the result.
“We were in complete control and we gift the goal away. We probably do that move 1,000 times in training to perfect it and we make a mistake and that’s on me because I’m asking the team to play this way,” Rosenior said.
“The reason we play this way is the next 50 minutes of the game, we were absolutely on top.
“To come here to a team with the players they have on the pitch and completely dominate possession and go toe-to-toe, we were the better team and to throw it away in the manner that we did is so frustrating.”
Rosenior said the club lost four players this week to injury and Aaron Connolly became unavailable despite being named on the bench.
“I wanted to change Aaron Connolly and get him on the pitch but when he’s warming up in the first half his toe completely swells up so he was available and then became unavailable during the game,” Rosenior explained.
“That’s why we say we need a squad because we are going to have these setbacks and it’s how we respond to them.”
Coventry City 1-2 Ipswich Town: Burgess puts Tractor Boys on brink of promotion
Ipswich Town took a huge step to Premier League promotion after Cameron Burgess snatched a second-half winner in Tuesday's 2-1 victory over Coventry City.
Kieran McKenna's side require just one point from their final Championship game against League One-bound Huddersfield Town to go up, after a decisive victory at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Kieffer Moore blasted in an eighth-minute opener for the visitors after Wes Burns' crafty cutback pass, easing the pressure on Ipswich and dampening the top-two hopes of third-placed Leeds United.
Haji Wright levelled in the second half, only for Burgess to squeeze a winning goal past Bradley Collins five minutes later, putting Ipswich on the brink of top-flight football for the first time since their relegation in 2002.
A draw against Huddersfield, who are 23rd and three points adrift of safety, would secure promotion at Portman Road, marking just the fourth instance of back-to-back promotions in the Premier League era.
Having managed to climb out of League One, McKenna's entertaining side would join Watford, rivals Norwich City and Southampton as the only sides to achieve the feat.
Data Debrief: Ipswich end winless run at perfect time
Prior to this game, only five teams had won fewer points in the Championship than Ipswich's six since the beginning of April (W1 D3 L1).
Yet McKenna's men refused to let their top-flight push derail as the Tractor Boys ended a four-game winless run to move within touching distance of history.
Al Ittihad 1-2 Al Hilal: Holders into King's Cup final
Al Hilal overcame Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's red card as Saud Abdulhamid's late goal sealed a 2-1 victory over Al Ittihad in the King's Cup semi-finals.
Without Karim Benzema, Al Ittihad ultimately lacked the firepower to make their numerical advantage count in Tuesday's clash.
Former Lazio midfielder, who joined Al Hilal as part of their spending spree last year, received a straight red card in the 42nd minute.
Al Ittihad's Abderrazzaq Hamed-Allah cancelled out Micheal's opener, but Abdulhamid popped up with the winner in the 81st minute.
Al Hilal are 10-time King's Cup winners, having won their 10th title last season.
The Saudi Pro League leaders, who are still without the injured Neymar, will now face either Al Khaleej or Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr in the final at the end of May.
Data Debrief: Malcom in the middle
Al Hilal might be missing their star Brazilian Neymar, but his compatriot Malcom is delivering when it comes to playmaking.
The former Zenit attacker set up both of Al Hilal's goals, creating three chances in total and registering a pass accuracy of 92.6 per cent, better than any of his team-mates.
Former Spain boss Del Bosque to oversee RFEF
Former Spain boss Vicente del Bosque will oversee a new committee supervising the RFEF.
Spain, which is due to be one of six host countries for the 2030 World Cup, announced the creation of a special committee until the federation holds elections to replace Luis Rubiales.
That is despite Pedro Rocha having this week been appointed as Rubiales' replacement, though he himself is under investigation amid a corruption probe.
Rubiales was dismissed following his unsolicited kiss on Jenni Hermoso during the Women's World Cup trophy ceremony in 2023.
The federation's former president was then arrested in early April as part of a corruption investigation.
Del Bosque led Spain to three consecutive trophies, winning the European Championships in 2008 and 2012, while also leading the team to their first World Cup success in 2010.
Prior to his time with the national team, he also won two Champions Leagues and two LaLiga titles while in charge of Real Madrid, where he made over 400 appearances as a player.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
