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.”
Lopetegui rues missed opportunity as West Ham lose to Man City
West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui was not encouraged by the performance of his team despite losing 3-1 at home to Manchester City in their third league game.
“It is true that City is one of the best teams around the world for sure… but it is also true too that in the second half we have been very close to a draw,” he said speaking to BBC Match of the Day.
“I think we have played one very good second half. The start has been very good for us too.”
West Ham threatened for extended periods of the match and had chances to level the match at 2-1 down, with the best coming from Mohammed Kudus as he smashed a shot against the bar in the second half.
They also started the game brightly before going a goal down inside 10 minutes.
“In my mind we started very well, being aggressive,” said Lopetegui.
“We know in this plan normally they have initiative, it’s very difficult to not concede initiative then. That’s why you have to do a lot of very good things to overcome them.
“In the second half we had chances, I think we kept the ball much more, much more, and didn't concede a lot of chances."
But the hosts were ultimately undone by the brilliant finishing of Erling Haaland, who scored his second hat-trick in as many matches.
“He is one of the best players in the world, that's why he plays for Manchester City,” he said.
“You have to compete with these kind of players. City has the power and the quality to create chances.”
But ultimately, he was left frustrated at the sense of a missed opportunity and that his team were unable to earn themselves a draw that hadn’t seemed implausible during the match.
“Today I think the first goal was a pity for us but I’ve said it. I was happy with the performance think we were able to draw but again they damage us,” he said.
“Against this kind of team, if you make a mistake they don’t forgive. This is the difference they have… A little mistake they punish you, they punish us.
“We have to improve, to know to compete against this kind of team to be close to perfection.
“Don't make mistakes, be calm, defend well… we have quality players too.”
Bayer Leverkusen 2-3 Leipzig: Visitors fightback halts unbeaten streak for Alonso's side
Bayer Leverkusen suffered their first defeat in 36 Bundesliga matches, as Leipzig came from behind to stun Xabi Alonso's side 3-2 at BayArena.
Lois Openda struck twice for Marco Rose's, who recovered from 2-0 down to make it two wins from two and move to the summit of the table.
It looked like business as usual for the reigning Bundesliga champions when they scored twice in the last seven minutes of the first half through Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo.
However, Leipzig replied deep into first-half stoppage time with Kevin Kampl reducing the deficit.
Openda then brought the visitors level in the 57th minute, before a stunning long-range strike completed the turnaround 10 minutes from time, condemning Leverkusen to their first league defeat in 15 months.
Data Debrief: Leverkusen's long streak comes to a shuddering halt
Leipzig became the first side to beat Leverkusen in a Bundesliga match since Bochum achieved the feat a staggering 462 days earlier.
The visitors have begun a Bundesliga season with two wins from two for only the second time, also doing so in 2019-20.
They are also now unbeaten in 13 league matches, their longest such streak since Rose took charge.
As for Leverkusen, their invincible streak is officially history, as is their 29-game unbeaten run on home soil.
Sancho given fresh start with Chelsea loan move
Jadon Sancho has secured a move away from Manchester United, having joined Chelsea on Deadline Day on a season-long loan.
The deal includes an obligation to buy for between £20-£25 million at the end of the loan, according to widespread reports, meaning that the 24-year-old will not be returning to Old Trafford next summer.
Work to complete the transfer came late on Deadline Day, with a deal sheet being submitted to ensure the signing could go through after the 11pm deadline.
Chelsea were able to get the deal over the line, confirming the move was complete on Saturday evening.
"I’m really excited to be here," Sancho said. "London is where I grew up and I’m happy to be back.
"The manager spoke to me about the project and, for a young player, it's exciting. Hopefully I can bring goals and assists to the Bridge."
It brings an end to a three-year spell at Old Trafford for Sancho. The winger originally joined United on a five-year contract in 2021 but, following a public falling out with manager Erik ten Hag, found his first-team opportunities limited.
Sancho made 83 appearances in all competitions for United, but his last start for the club came against Manchester City in the 2023 FA Cup final. He made three substitute appearances in August 2023 before moving back to Dortmund on loan in January, where he scored three goals in 21 appearances.
His final outing in a United shirt came off the bench in their Community Shield defeat to Manchester City, but he was not included in the squad for the first two league games.
Sancho joins a club with plenty of competition for attacking places, with Cole Palmer, Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, Pedro Neto, Joao Felix and Noni Madueke among their roster.
Chelsea did also manage to move some players on during Deadline Day. Raheem Sterling secured a loan move to Arsenal on Deadline Day, while Trevoh Chalobah joined Crystal Palace, Armando Broja moved to Everton and Djordje Petrovic was loaned by Strasbourg.
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