West Brom head coach Carlos Corberan accepted his side had to suffer as they held on to beat Swansea 3-2 at The Hawthorns.
The Baggies appeared to be cruising towards a first three points of the new Sky Bet Championship season after Semi Ajayi, a Carl Rushworth own goal and a John Swift penalty put them 3-0 up just after the hour.
However, Swansea fought back with late goals from Harry Darling and Nathan Wood after Jerry Yates hit the bar gave the Baggies a mighty scare.
“We won a game by suffering without managing it the way we needed to do,” Corberan said.
“The best thing of course was the result and the worst thing was that we suffered more than we had to suffer during one part of the game.
“Two things happened – firstly they started to play 4-3-1-2 and had quality players in the middle of the pitch, then they switched to 5-3-2.
“Secondly, when they changed, they didn’t create chances from open play, but they started to create set-pieces and actions from those.
“We were not on it from those set-pieces and conceded two goals and a lot of chances that put the result at a lot of risk.”
Corberan believes he needs to persevere with playing three central defenders because he is convinced the team needs the extra protection.
“I need to make the team grow from the solidity in defence,” he said.
“But we have conceded in every game we have played so far – four goals – and for me it’s important to stop this.
“It’s important for us to have one defender more (three at the back) because it can help you recover the solidity.”
West Brom’s early dominance was rewarded with an 18th-minute lead.
A long throw-in by Darnell Furlong was flicked on and Conor Townsend nodded it back across the box for Ajayi to volley home from six yards.
Another set-piece gave Albion their second goal in the 50th minute.
Swift’s corner was met by a flick by Furlong and after it struck a defender, Rushworth made a hash of twice trying to catch the ball before it squirmed through his grasp and over the line.
West Brom’s third goal came after Darling fouled Townsend for a clear penalty and Swift calmly beat Rushworth from the spot.
Swansea started an unlikely recovery when Darling nodded in Charlie Patino’s corner with 15 minutes left and Wood’s towering header set up a tense finish for the hosts.
Swansea head coach Michael Duff admitted his side had just left it too late.
“It was frustrating because we waited until we were 3-0 down before we started playing with any purpose,” he said.
“We were too slow and too passive in the first half and never played with any intensity – balls coming into our box, they headed them, we didn’t.
“We went 3-0 down and it kicked us into life. We started heading those balls because we were angry and we started moving the ball quicker and with intensity and purpose, then we looked like a good team.”
Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome
Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham need to "overcome" their low confidence after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Spurs slipped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, being left to bemoan their slow start as they found themselves 4-0 down by the hour mark thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.
Richarlison came off the bench to salvage some pride for Spurs, scoring one before setting up Son Heung-min for a goal on his 300th Premier League appearance.
Spurs had the opportunity to cut the gap to the top four after Aston Villa’s defeat to Brighton, but they remain seven points off a Champions League spot.
Postecoglou’s side still have a game in hand over the Villans, though he was sure that Spurs would be able to put their recent poor run behind them.
Asked if Spurs had a confidence problem, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "Maybe in the front third there is.
"It probably is a bit of a lack of confidence, but again, that's something the guys have to work through.
"You have to find a way to overcome that because, ultimately, if you don't put pressure on the opposition in the front third after you've worked your way up there, they're going to get comfortable with their position."
Spurs have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games, failing to win any of the last five.
Despite that run extending at Anfield, Postecoglou highlighted what he thought was an improvement on their recent performances.
He continued: "Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us but at least we were more like ourselves today in terms of our football.
"Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea, apart from the results which weren't great either, we just didn't try and play our football.
"I thought today, even in the first half, some of our football, our pressing was back to where it should be."
Roma 1-1 Juventus: Juve miss chance to close gap to second after draw with Roma
Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Roma on Sunday, missing the chance to close in on Milan in second place in Serie A.
Roma took the lead after 15 minutes when Romelu Lukaku found himself in the perfect position to tap in the rebound from a Bryan Cristante shot.
Bremer levelled with a header for Juventus just after the half-hour mark when Federico Chiesa picked him out inside the box from a corner.
Both sides had chances to find a winner in the final minutes, with Roma keeper Mile Svilar making a fingertip save to push Manuel Locatelli's volley over the bar.
Third-placed Juventus have 66 points, five fewer than Milan, who drew 3-3 with Genoa earlier on Sunday. Roma are fifth with 60 points.
Data Debrief: Leading from the back
Since scoring his first Serie A goal in the 2019-20 season, Bremer is the defender with the most headed goals in the Big-5 European leagues, netting 13 in total. Each of his last seven goals have been headers.
His goal was enough to earn Juventus a point today, but it means that they have drawn each of their last four in the competition - a first since February-March 2012 under Antonio Conte.
Chelsea 8-0 Bristol City: Blues rout hands Hayes perfect home send off
Guro Reiten starred as Chelsea thrashed already-relegated Bristol City 8-0 to keep their title hopes alive in the Women's Super League on Sunday.
The Norwegian scored four goals, netting the opener from the penalty spot to get Emma Hayes' last home game in charge off to the best start.
She scored the other three in the second half in just over 20 minutes, while teeing up Agnes Beever-Jones for the seventh goal with just two minutes left.
Beever-Jones got two, with Sjoeke Nusken and Niamh Charles also adding to the scoreline to eradicate the goal-difference advantage that Manchester City, who lost to Arsenal earlier on Sunday, had over them.
Chelsea move to within three points of the Citizens, with a game in hand over them, remaining in the fight to lift their fifth-consecutive league title.
Data Debrief:
Chelsea have scored eight goals in a game for the first time since December 2022 against Leicester City, a match they also won 8-0.
The Blues have scored in their last six games in the WSL, though it does not come close to their longest run of games with a goal in the competition - a run of 20 from April 2023 to February 2024.
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