West Brom strengthened their hold on fifth place in the Championship as they bounced back with a comfortable 3-0 victory at Plymouth.
The Baggies suffered defeat at promotion contenders Southampton on Friday but came out fighting on Tuesday night, with all three goals coming in the final 30 minutes from Cedric Kipre, substitute Mikey Johnston and Tom Fellows.
West Brom’s Alex Mowatt went close in the third minute with a goal-bound angled drive from range that took a deflection, off a home defender and onto the post.
Although the subsequent corner was cleared, it needed a superb sliding tackle from recalled defender Brendan Galloway to deny visiting skipper Jed Wallace as he homed in on goal a minute later.
In Argyle’s first serious attack, 18-goal top scorer Morgan Whittaker’s cross was cleared but only as far as incoming midfielder Adam Randell, who let fly with a thumping 20-yard first-timer that flew just wide.
Mowatt’s inswinging corner had to be punched off the goal-line by home goalkeeper Conor Hazard.
Hazard made a superb 28th-minute save to keep out Andreas Weimann’s thunderous strike on the bounce after a clever aerial through ball from playmaker Wallace down the right.
The hosts countered with right wing-back Lino Sousa firing over from their next attack.
Home defender Bali Mumba did well to block Weimann’s 36th-minute volley as the ball was looped back into the area from the right by Wallace.
West Brom started the second half as they finished the first – on the attack.
Weimann went close with an angled shot on the run as he latched on to a defence-splitting through ball from Fellows from the right.
The striker let fly with a first-time strike as he swerved to beat his marker, but the shot flew just wide of goal, with the diving Hazard beaten.
Albion hit the post again seven minutes after the break as under-pressure Plymouth failed to clear their lines following another corner.
The ball was headed back across goal by Nathaniel Chalobah, while Wallace, who was just inside the area, sent in a shot that crashed off the foot of the post and across the goal-line.
Just after the hour mark, West Brom’s pressure paid off as unmarked Kipre had time to left-foot the ball home from close range at the far post as Argyle failed to clear John Swift’s corner from the right.
Albion’s Conor Townsend fired in an audacious long-range effort that flew over from 30 yards in the 73rd minute.
In their next meaningful attack, Baggies substitute Johnston fired the away side 2-0 ahead with a brilliant solo effort after 76 minutes.
Johnston cut in from the left, into the box, and beat his marker Matthew Sorinola before thrashing a rising shot past Hazard and into the far corner.
Substitute Grady Diangana fired over from inside the box from Townsend’s 87th-minute cutback as Albion went in search of a third goal.
That came in the first minute of stoppage time as Wallace’s low shot was saved by Hazard, who could not hold onto the ball, and Fellows followed up to slot home.
Ricketts congratulates 'Bunny' Shaw on FWA Women's Player of the Year award
Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president Michael Ricketts saluted Reggae Girl and Manchester City striker Khadija “Bunny” Shaw on her latest accomplishment of being voted the Football Writers’ Association (FWA) Women’s Player of the Year for the 2023-24 season.
Shaw won the women’s Footballer of the Year award with 80 per cent of the voters opting for either the Manchester City striker or Chelsea’s Lauren James. James finished runner-up with another Manchester City standout Alex Greenwood finishing third. Yui Hasegawa, Elisabeth Terland and Khiara Keating completed the top six.
In a release on Friday, Ricketts pointed out that the award spoke volumes of Shaw's impact on Manchester City's Women's Super League charge, as she has been a model of consistency since joining the Gareth Taylor-coached club in 2021. Her performances have placed Manchester City on the brink of securing their first WSL title since 2016.
“This award is a beautiful feather in her cap and a massive advertisement for Jamaica’s football,” Ricketts said.
“I am happy to see the consistency in quality shown by Khadija. She has always been a top player, but her standard has risen a notch this season. This augurs well for the national team in the future. We wish her all the best on the road to recovery,” he added.
Prior to Shaw sustaining a broken foot during her last Women’s Super League match against West Ham, the Reggae Girls captain scored 21 goals, which were complemented by three assists in 18 games this season.
Shaw is the third Jamaican-born individual to have won the award after John Barnes (1987-88, 1989-90) and Raheem Sterling in 2019.
However, she is the first national representative to receive the honour, as both Barnes and Sterling were England internationals when they earned the recognition.
'It's football hunger' – Moyes intent on West Ham stay as Lopetegui speculation swirls
David Moyes insisted there remains a "football hunger" to carry West Ham forward as speculation persists over the Hammers moving for Julen Lopetegui.
Widespread reports suggest West Ham have been in contact with Lopetegui, who left Wolves ahead of the 2023-24 campaign after just eight months in charge.
Yet Moyes reiterated his commitment to West Ham as the Scotsman aims for another top-10 Premier League finish, with the Hammers ninth in the table heading into the weekend's action.
"Absolutely, it's football hunger," Moyes responded when questioned on his drive to take West Ham to the next level.
"I'm nearly a bit embarrassed to be asked that question because I'm a football nut. I love my football, I go to games, I love it, really do. I have got great hunger."
"I said to everybody that we will make a decision at the end of the season."
West Ham and Moyes will hope to end a three-game winless run in the league when they head to London rivals Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Courtois to make first start this season as Madrid close in on title
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois will make his first start of the season against Cadiz on Saturday after making a full recovery from two knee injuries, Carlo Ancelotti has revealed.
Ancelotti, however, will remain cautious with Courtois, who has not played since suffering torn ligaments 13 months ago, with Andriy Lunin set to return for Wednesday's Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich.
"The decisive game we have in mind, a final, is Wednesday's match against Bayern, where Lunin will play. After that, we'll see what happens," Ancelotti said on Friday.
"Courtois is fine, he will play tomorrow after a long, long time. It's good news that he's coming back, just like [Eder] Militao.
"Courtois can contribute, he's feeling good, he's very excited. We are delighted to have him back."
Lunin has established himself as Ancelotti's preferred deputy in Courtois' absence, seeing off competition from Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Lunin was Madrid's hero as they beat Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-finals, making two saves in their 4-3 penalty shoot-out victory after an inspired performance in a 1-1 second-leg draw.
Courtois, however, is widely considered to be one of the world's best goalkeepers and the Belgian is likely to regain his starting spot soon, with a LaLiga and Champions League double in Madrid's sights.
He was named man-of-the-match in the 2022 Champions League final after making nine saves to deny Liverpool as Madrid clinched a record-extending 14th European title with a 1-0 win in Paris.
Brazil centre-back Militao returned in late March after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in August, making his first start in last week's win at Real Sociedad in LaLiga.
"We were too passive against Bayern. We have to be more active. So Militao will play tomorrow to get into a rhythm," Ancelotti said.
"We are only thinking about the 'final' on Wednesday. We don't think about what might happen in a month's time. Hopefully, soon we can start looking further ahead, it will mean we'll make the final in London."
With five games left, Ancelotti's side top the LaLiga standings on 84 points, 11 ahead of Barca and 13 clear of third-placed Girona. They can clinch a record-extending 36th Spanish title if they beat Cadiz and Barcelona fail to win at Girona later on Saturday.
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