Adam Armstrong continued Southampton’s reputation as the Championship’s  late kings as his 79th-minute winner clinched a 2-1 victory over promotion rivals West Brom.

Will Smallbone had put Saints ahead early on before Kyle Bartley levelled things, with West Brom almost leading when Darnell Furlong hit the crossbar.

But Armstrong coolly prodded in his ninth goal of the season to grab the league-high eighth goal Saints have bagged in the last 15 minutes of their matches.

It extended Southampton’s unbeaten run to eight matches while halting West Brom’s three-game winning streak.

As they had in the previous seven games, Saints scored first.

Stuart Armstrong cut back to Adam Armstrong from the byline in the fifth minute. His shot was saved but the rebound fell to Smallbone to slam in from close range.

Conor Townsend thought he had cleared off the line but the goal-line technology confirmed West Brom had conceded the first goal in a match for the first time since September.

The hosts took hold of the game without testing Alex Palmer’s goal again, until the 28th minute.

Kyle Walker-Peters was released down the right, he stepped over to beat his defender before passing to Smallbone, via Kamaldeen Sulemana, but his snapshot had too much elevation and cleared the crossbar.

The Baggies rallied, found a powerful press and came knocking for an equaliser in the last 10 minutes of the first half.

Nathaniel Chalobah may have slipped when recording his side’s first shot but showed the intent.

Brandon Thomas-Asante’s shot was scuffed but was destined for the bottom corner had it not been for Taylor Harwood-Bellis throwing himself at the ball to head behind.

Turkish midfielder Okay Yokuslu then fired over from the corner of the box as Southampton were relieved by the whistle.

Mason Holgate had returned to the starting eleven in place of the suspended Jan Bednarek. The former West Brom loanee had a few nervy moments in the first half but grew into the game with a vital block to deny Thomas-Asante.

Still, the Baggies pushed without end product and in the 63rd minute Matt Phillips showed his directness to jinx off his flank before his curling shot bounced just wide.

There was no surprise when two minutes later the away side levelled.

Thomas-Asante powered a header from Jed Wallace’s cross, with centre-back Bartley following up to bundle over the line for his second goal of the season.

The momentum continued when Townsend’s wicked cross was attacked by Darnell Furlong and crashed into the crossbar.

It woke Saints up and with 11 minutes left,  they went straight up the other end and scored.

Adam Armstrong calmly pulled Ryan Fraser’s cross down at the back post and slotted in his ninth goal of the campaign. It was Saints’ only shot on target in the second period.

Gavin Bazunu produced a stunning stoppage-time save to deny Jayson Molumby and hold on to the three points.

Carlos Corberan pointed to an increasing self-belief after West Brom snapped Preston’s unbeaten start to the Sky Bet Championship season with an emphatic 4-0 away win.

The Baggies took a fourth-minute lead when Darnell Furlong drilled home a shot from 22 yards, before further strikes from Alex Mowatt, Matt Phillips and Kyle Bartley completed a great afternoon for the visitors.

The result marks West Brom’s first win since August 26 and lifts them back to within touching distance of the play-offs, while Preston remain third in the table after six wins and two draws prior to this humbling.

“Defensively and attacking, that was a fantastic performance,” Corberan said.

“I was delighted to see complete effort and commitment from all the players, and that was exactly what I had been after.

“I’ve told the players previously that they need to believe in themselves and that belief was there for everyone to see today.

“Perhaps at times we needed to do more things during the game, but I cannot be critical after a victory like that.

“I was so pleased to see every player competing from the very first minute to the last. There are different challenges in this division too.

“We met those today, but we all know the physical demands of the Championship.”

After a frustrating September, where West Brom lost to Huddersfield and drew with Bristol City and Watford, Corberan hopes they can make up for lost time and rack up some wins.

They have three home games to come in their next four league fixtures, starting with Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday.

“Games are coming at us all the time, and we have to cope with that,” he said.

“We knew exactly how tough it was going to be to come here and get a result.

“Preston have had a great start to the season, and their players will never give anything up.

“Their high intensity was something else we knew we needed to match but we did that and this has been a fantastic result.

“We need to take this positive feeling into the next games now.”

While Corberan hopes the result is a landmark moment in their season, Preston manager Ryan Lowe plans to forget it as soon as possible.

They face tricky away games at Leicester and Ipswich before the international break and Lowe insists they cannot dwell on the defeat for too long.

“We were nowhere near the levels I expect from the lads, but you have to remember West Brom are a really good team full of good players,” he said.

“They’re well coached, you can see that but I was also proud and pleased that our lads didn’t give up – we kept going right until the end.

“We’ve been terrific so far this season. We’re still in a great position, we’ve only lost one game.

“We’ve lost three points, not six or nine, so it’s not all negatives. The lads know they weren’t good enough today, but we won’t linger on it.

“I’ve told them all that I want lots of smiles on faces on Monday morning, and there will be. The manner of the defeat was a big disappointment, but credit to West Brom.

“Ultimately we’ve just lost one game – today has just been one of those days.”

Referee Lee Mason was criticised for making a "horrendous decision" after controversially ruling out a Brighton goal in an eventful Premier League clash with West Brom.

The battle between two teams struggling at the bottom end of the table was settled in favour of West Brom thanks to Kyle Bartley's goal in the 11th minute.

However, Lewis Dunk's quickly taken free-kick appeared to have drawn Brighton level in the first half, his attempt coming with goalkeeper Sam Johnstone still situated by his post while lining up a defensive wall for the home team. 

Mason, who had appeared to blow his whistle to allow the game to be restarted, initially awarded the goal, then disallowed the strike instead.

A further delay in proceedings then followed when the on-field official was told to check the pitchside monitor following communication with video assistant referee (VAR) Simon Hooper.

The check appeared to be concerning the possible presence of an attacking player in an offside position, though it was then announced the goal had been ruled out as Mason had actually sounded his whistle for a second time before the ball crossed the line.

Dunk, however, was far from impressed by the eventual outcome.

"It's embarrassing, it's a horrendous decision," the Brighton captain told Sky Sports. "I said to the referee, 'Can I take it?'. He blew his whistle and I took it.

"I don't think he knew what he was doing. He gave the goal, why did he give it? I don't know why VAR was getting involved, he said: 'Goal'. You can look on the video, if you want."

Asked if Mason lost control of the game, the defender replied: "Yeah he did. Fact."

Brighton slipped to defeat at the Hawthorns despite having just over 70 per cent of possession and 15 attempts.

They also contrived to waste not one but two penalties, in the process becoming the first team in Premier League history to miss two spot-kicks by hitting the woodwork in a single game.

Pascal Gross squandered the first opportunity from 12 yards out in the opening half, while Danny Welbeck was also unsuccessful in the 75th minute having taken over penalty duties for the visitors.

The Seagulls will return south wondering quite how they managed to come away without anything from the fixture, but victory for West Brom boosts their survival hopes.

Sam Allardyce's side remain 19th in the table but have closed the gap down to eight points on 17th-placed Newcastle United, who sit a point and a place below Brighton ahead of hosting Wolves later on Saturday.

Offering his version of events over the free-kick goal that never was, match-winner Bartley told Sky Sports: "The ref blew his whistle he said to speak to someone in the wall, there was a bit of pushing.

"There was a bit of confusion but Lee Mason dealt with it really well and came to the right conclusion. It was a bit confusing, I don't think it would have been right for them to score like that."

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