Carlos Corberan praised West Brom’s “maturity” as a hard-fought 1-0 win at Cardiff lifted them to third place in the Sky Bet Championship.
Jeremy Sarmiento’s stunning second-half strike gave Albion a fifth win in six games and seven from their last 10.
“It was total opposite win,” boss Corberan said comparing Albion’s success in the Welsh capital to their free-flowing victory over second-placed Ipswich on Saturday.
“This result was the consequence of the team competing with maturity when we couldn’t find the football we wanted to create.
“The first half was very difficult to impose our style, we couldn’t find more than four or five passes because we couldn’t link enough.
“It was very important for me not to be frustrated but to fix details.
“We improved the possession in the second half and had the ball in better positions.
“We had to show defensive spirit in the second half to secure the three points.”
Sarmiento has had a slow start to his Baggies spell after joining on a season-long loan from Brighton in July.
The 21-year-old former England youth international, who played for Ecuador at the 2022 World Cup, has been troubled by a quad injury and this was only his second league start.
On Sarmiento’s wonder strike five minutes after the break, cutting on to his right foot and curling home from 20 yards, Corberan said: “Maybe I didn’t expect him to shoot from there.
“He has the quality and he was very positive, but it was not easy from the angle that he had.
“It’s important for Jeremy to have the minutes because the injury has stopped him having the continuity he needs to have.
“We know he is a young player with a lot of talent and he needs to keep building his level. The more he improves the better it is for the team.”
Cardiff manager Erol Bulut was angry his side were not given a late penalty for handball, saying in a post-match radio interview that “this league needs VAR for sure”.
Bulut said: “I didn’t mention anything about referees because I respect them and I think they need to respect Cardiff more.
“This was a penalty and we will report it. I don’t want to speak but they are pushing me. They are costing me many points. I don’t want to report it.”
Bulut absolved on-loan Arsenal goalkeeper Alex Runarsson, who was making only his third league start for the Bluebirds, of blame for Sarmiento’s winner.
He said: “We watched it and I spoke with the goalkeeper coach (Mario Galinovic) and he said he couldn’t catch the ball.
“I have to see it, but if the goalkeeper coach says this, it’s a really good shot.
“We don’t have to allow that shot. But we should push the opponent to the line.”
Leganes 0-3 Real Madrid: Mbappe and Bellingham score as Blancos close on Barcelona
Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham were both on target as Real Madrid moved to within four points of LaLiga leaders Barcelona with a 3-0 win at Leganes.
Federico Valverde also scored for Carlo Ancelotti's side, who still have a game in hand on leaders Barca, who were pegged back in a 2-2 draw with Celta Vigo on Saturday.
Mbappe ended a goal drought of over 400 minutes after being teed up by Vinicius Junior shortly before half-time, moments after Leganes had surrendered possession near the edge of their own area.
Madrid dominated possession throughout the second half and doubled their advantage in the 66th minute, Valverde drilling a low effort home from a free-kick won by Bellingham.
Bellingham later got in on the act with a header on the rebound after substitute Brahim Diaz rattled the crossbar, as Madrid cruised to back-to-back league wins.
Data Debrief: Dirty work pays off for Madrid
Mbappe's opener, scored at a vital time shortly before the interval, set Madrid on their way to victory on Sunday.
Eduardo Camavinga and Bellingham both pressed high to help the visitors recover possession in the build-up, and Madrid have now scored five goals resulting from high turnovers in LaLiga this season – the most of any team across Europe's top five leagues.
This was the first time Ancelotti had faced Leganes in LaLiga, and he has now beaten all 28 different opponents he has come up against in the competition.
Napoli 1-0 Roma: Lukaku downs former club on Ranieri's return
Claudio Ranieri's Roma return was spoilt by Romelu Lukaku, whose goal against his old club sealed a 1-0 win for Napoli.
Ranieri was appointed Roma boss over the international break, with the 73-year-old coming out of retirement to take charge of the club for a third time.
Yet it was ex-Roma striker Lukaku who decided Sunday's contest at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, with his 54th-minute effort sending Antonio Conte's team back to the top of Serie A.
Lukaku was well-placed to convert from Giovanni Di Lorenzo's cutback, bringing up his fifth Serie A goal of the campaign.
Roma, who had just two attempts and managed only 0.07 expected goals (xG) in the first half, woke up after Lukaku's goal, with Artem Dovbyk powering a header off the woodwork from a free-kick minutes later, but the visitors' comeback attempts proved fruitless.
Ranieri's next task is to rally his troops for a Europa League clash with Tottenham on Thursday.
Data Debrief: Ranieri's underwhelming return
There was no sign of an immediate upturn for 12th-place Roma, if they were hoping for a new-coach bounce.
Roma ended the first half with fewer than 70 successful passes (68). It is the first time they have had so few successful passes in the opening half of a league game since 2004-05.
With only three wins to their name in the league, they have won fewer than four matches in their opening 13 Serie A games for the first time since the 1978-79 campaign (also three).
And of course, it had to be Lukaku, who was leading their line last season, that delivered the hammer blow. The Belgium international has been involved in nine goals in Serie A this term (five goals, four assists). Only his former Everton club-mate Ademola Lookman, now a star at Atalanta, has contributed to more goals in the competition (seven goals, four assists).
Amorim believes Man Utd were guilty of overthinking in Ipswich draw
Ruben Amorim believes Manchester United were guilty of overthinking as his Premier League managerial bow ended in a 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town.
The Red Devils made a flying start to the Portuguese's tenure as Marcus Rashford netted in only the second minute at Portman Road.
But Omari Hutchinson's deflected equaliser restored parity and Andre Onana had to make a couple of big saves from Liam Delap to ensure Amorim started with a point.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Amorim said: "I think my players were thinking too much during the game, they were thinking not just with the ball, but, 'where am I supposed to be?'
"It is hard because the team has been together only two days, I think we needed more in the first half with the physicality, because they left us one against one up front so we have to use those moments to feel the opponent.
"I think we lost some balls without pressure and when you start a game like this, you score one goal, then you have to control the ball, you have to control the tempo of the game.
"We cannot do it at the moment but they tried, they really, really tried. I know for some guys it's hard to understand this but they're trying and they really want this."
Amorim conceded that United, who are 12th in the Premier League, need to be better in their game management moving forward.
"I think that is a concern because you can understand you don't need to coach them at this level (how) you have to keep the ball, put the momentum in to put the ball up front," he added.
"At the end of the game, we are around the box with two strikers, Josh (Zirkzee) has to understand he has to go to the box to have the crosses, so we are doing things not in the right moment. That is something we have to address.
"Everyone talks about the 3-4-3 – that is not the problem, but the understanding of the game... we have to improve in this area."
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