Carlos Corberan was delighted after his West Brom side secured a 2-0 win against Coventry at the CBS Arena.
Grady Diangana pounced on a Ben Wilson error to slot home in the first half before Brandon Thomas-Asante fired in a second amid calls for offside from the Sky Blues’ back-line.
“The result of course was excellent,” said Corberan. “We know that Coventry is one team that didn’t lose at home so far, during the game we realised how difficult it was to win here tonight.
“The first goal was a collective action, Grady was showing how connected he is with the game because normally not every player will go for the second ball.
“The second was a very good action, very good pass of (Matt) Phillips, good running of Asante and the level of finish was excellent.
“I am very pleased to have the three points for the level of effort the players have put into the game tonight. In defence in the first half we need to defend much better. In attack we need to attack more, in the second half we improved in the counter attack but there are still things we need to do better to improve as a team.
“I didn’t watch the action (possible offside) so it’s impossible for me to make any decisions. You need to pause, to see with VAR to make the decision but on live, some actions are impossible.
“I think in one action if there is a clear offside it’s easy to see, if there is no clear offside it’s very difficult, and if there is no clear offside there is no advantage. I think VAR shows us sometimes that they disallow the goals in the action that you don’t see an advantage of the striker with the position of the defender.
“If there was an advantage I think the referee would have been watching. I hope it wasn’t offside because I always like to win with the results being fair.”
Coventry boss Mark Robins bemoaned a lack of belief within his side, who were handed their first home defeat since April and sit 20th in the Championship after three consecutive defeats.
Robins said: “The negative is obviously the result. We’ve got to a situation where we’ve lost the last three and we’ve conceded really poor goals and made some poor decisions.
“We’ve had plenty of the ball and got into good positions, but what I would say is we need to be more positive when we’ve got positions to shoot.
“We moved the ball well, we played through the midfield area pretty well and there are areas that we clearly need to be better in.
“There were some good things we did in the game but we can’t concede goals that give us a mountain to climb.
“Belief is a bit lacking in certain individuals but we made a lot of bad decisions as well.
“Ultimately they’ve got the win off the back of a goal we’ve given to them and an offside goal that wasn’t seen by the officials.
“I saw it live and it looked offside and then I went to have a look at the monitor and he was offside. But the action that led to it wasn’t right either. We tried to play offside, that was a major decision because we were still in the game, we had chances to equalise having gone a goal down.
“It’s poor by Ben Wilson. We can’t give people chances like that and expect people to keep the ball out of the net. It’s poor. We all make mistakes and it’s just how you deal with them and how you put those forward.”
Dortmund have flown under the radar to reach Champions League final, says Terzic
Borussia Dortmund have benefited from going under the radar during their "unbelievable road" to the Champions League final, according to head coach Edin Terzic.
The Black and Yellow will play either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the showpiece on June 1, following a hard-earned 2-0 aggregate win over Paris Saint-Germain in the last four.
Dortmund came into this season on the back of a bitter Bundesliga title loss on the final matchday of the previous campaign, with a 2-2 draw against Mainz handing the title to Bayern on goal difference.
While Terzic's side have been unable to launch a genuine challenge on the domestic front this term - currently occupying fifth place and 24 points adrift of newly crowned champions Bayer Leverkusen - it has been a different story in Europe.
"There is always a team that no one has on their radar that reaches the quarter-finals or the semi-finals," he said. "We wanted to be the team that were not necessarily on anyone's radar. That road has been unbelievable."
Indeed, it has. Dortmund began their campaign with a 2-0 defeat at PSG and goalless draw at home to Milan, but recovered to top Group F before seeing off PSV and Atletico Madrid in the round of 16 and quarter-finals respectively.
The 1997 Champions League winners then produced a defensive masterclass across both legs of their semi-final with PSG, to reach their first final since 2013.
"After the second matchday, almost no one believed in us any more," said captain Emre Can, who made his 50th Champions League appearance during the second leg at Parc des Princes.
"We only had one point after two matches, but we kept believing and that was the most important thing. Keeping two clean sheets in two matches against PSG is no mean feat."
Mbappe admits 'I didn't do enough' following PSG's Champions League exit
Kylian Mbappe shouldered the blame for Paris Saint-Germain's 1-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, which saw them exit the Champions League semi-finals 2-0 on aggregate.
Mbappe, who is set to leave PSG at the end of the season, was unable to inspire the Ligue 1 champions as they fell short in their latest quest to land the European crown.
The France captain registered a game-high three shots on target and 12 touches in the opposition box during the second leg at Parc des Princes, but his tally of just 51 touches overall was the second-lowest recorded by any PSG player.
And the 25-year-old admitted he should have made a more significant contribution towards his team's cause.
"I tried to help my team as best as I could, but I didn't do enough," he said. "I'm the guy who should score goals and be decisive. When things are good, I take all the limelight and when they are not, you have to take the shadow.
"That's not a problem. The first one who should have scored tonight was me. That's life, and we have to move on - me and the team."
PSG enjoyed the lion's share of possession (69.5 per cent) during the second leg and registered four times as many shots as their opponents did (30 to seven), hitting the woodwork four times.
"In decisive Champions League matches, when you're not effective in both boxes, it's difficult to get through to the next round," Mbappe added. "Even more so when we're talking about a final.
"We're certainly disappointed, but it's not all doom and gloom. We need to build on that and keep working, because I'm sure we'll get there."
Luis Enrique 'proud' of PSG despite Champions League semi-final exit
Luis Enrique expressed his pride at the efforts of his Paris Saint-Germain side, despite their Champions League exit at the hands of Borussia Dortmund.
The Ligue 1 champions were knocked out in the semi-finals on Tuesday after a 2-0 aggregate loss to the Bundesliga giants, having hit the woodwork six times over the two legs - making it a record tally of 14 for the campaign - and managed 31 attempts at Parc des Princes.
PSG missed a golden opportunity to reach their second Champions League final, but it is not all doom and gloom after a season of transition with a new coach.
The Ligue 1 title is already in the bag with three matches remaining, and they have a Coupe de France final showdown with Lyon to come later this month.
"We were not inferior over the two legs, but football rewards those who score - not those who hit the woodwork," Luis Enrique said.
"My goal was to be fighting for all the titles. Tonight I'm proud of my team, of all the players."
PSG have now lost all six legs of their three two-legged Champions League semi-finals, after double defeats against Milan in 1995 and Manchester City in 2021.
The year they reached the final, in 2020, they beat RB Leipzig in a one-off semi-final after COVID-19 disrupted the season, before losing out in the final to Bayern Munich.
This season started with a new coach in Luis Enrique and without Lionel Messi and Neymar, as club president Nasser al-Khelaifi put an emphasis on building a team over individual talents.
While not always brilliant, PSG have looked like an organised outfit and the coach said he was already working on building a team without Kylian Mbappe, who is widely expected to leave at the end of the campaign.
"The players and coach gave their all," Al-Khelaifi said. "Congratulations to Dortmund, we deserved better. It's a tough game. I'm proud of my team, the youngest in Europe.
"We've reached the semi-finals three times in five years. That's not our objective; it's still the final. That's soccer; you have to accept it and sometimes it's not fair. We'll accept it."
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