West Brom were awarded three points and a 3-0 win over Sheffield United on this day in 2002, as the fallout continued after ‘the Battle of Bramall Lane’.

Five days after the Division One clash had been abandoned by referee Eddie Wolstenholme, the Blades were left to deal with the repercussions of a shameful afternoon.

Following the dismissal of Blades goalkeeper Simon Tracey for handling outside his penalty area after only nine minutes, events turned significantly more toxic when Baggies captain Derek McInnes added to Scott Dobie’s first-half diving header to put the visitors 2-0 up on the hour.

Seconds after his arrival as a 64th-minute substitute, United defender Georges Santos – who had suffered a fractured eye socket courtesy of Andy Johnson’s elbow the previous season – was sent off after launching into a two-footed tackle on the Baggies midfielder.

In the subsequent mass brawl which followed, fellow Blades substitute Patrick Suffo was also dismissed after head-butting McInnes right in front of the referee.

Dobie made it 3-0 before Blades midfielder Michel Brown and defender Rob Ullathorne then both limped off, leaving the home side with only six men on the field – one of which being substitute goalkeeper Wilko De Vogt who had come on in place of striker Peter Ndlovu after Tracey’s red card.

That resulted in the match being abandoned with eight minutes remaining due to there not being the required number of minimum players present.

A war of words followed between infuriated West Brom boss Gary Megson, who labelled the situation “disgraceful”, and Blades manager Neil Warnock – who said he was “pleased with the effort” his players put in.

The English Football League subsequently ruled the result should stand and Sheffield United were later fined £10,000 for failing to control their players.

There were also fines for Warnock and Blades captain Keith Curle while Suffo and Santos were both handed six-match bans.

West Brom boss Carlos Corberan praised his Championship play-off chasing side for their patience as they claimed a comprehensive 3-0 victory at Plymouth.

Cedric Kipre broke the deadlock in the 61st minute and goals followed from substitute Mikey Johnston – with a brilliant 76th minute solo effort – and Tom Fellows, who scored a stoppage-time clincher.

Corberan said: “We had to be patient because at half-time we were 0-0. At half-time I wanted them to keep doing the things we did well and tried correcting the things we did not do well.

“I think in the second half we created a lot of chances. We were positive and created a lot of chances and it’s always positive to get goals.

“I said before the game, coming here and winning the game was going to be hard because only Leeds have won here since October. I think before Leeds won here at the weekend, Plymouth had not lost for nine league games here.”

The result saw the Baggies strengthened their hold on fifth place as they bounced back from defeat at promotion contenders Southampton on Friday.

Corberan was pleased with his side’s efforts but warned that Coventry and Norwich, who both sit just four points behind in seventh and eighth respectively, were hot on their heels.

He added: “When you don’t have a specific number nine, it’s important to score goals from different areas of the pitch.

“The important thing is to create chances – clearcut chances – and we did that.

“I think we have attacking players that can create chances and score goals from all over.

“Four points above seventh place tonight is nothing because we know how difficult staying in the play-off positions is going to be.

“From the play-off positions to 10th, we are one of the teams that are going to compete. The team that finds consistency will get a play-off place. You need a strong mentality to win every game.”

Plymouth head coach Ian Foster would not criticise his side after the defeat due to the busy fixture schedule.

He said: “We are disappointed because we have lost a game but I can’t be critical of the players.

“I know that sounds strange after a 3-0 home defeat but it’s our third game in six days.

“We have to give credit to the opposition. They are an excellent side and they showed that tonight.

“We dug in and kept them at bay for as long as we could. We have to take our medicine. They are one of the best sides in the Championship.

“We didn’t have our normal energy. We were guilty of tired passes. We found it really difficult in the second half.

“We have to stick together now, rest and plan accordingly for a massive game on Saturday (at Middlesbrough).

“We asked them for more, but they couldn’t give us more. They had empty tanks.

“We have to dust ourselves down now and go again.

“No one wants to pay money and see us be dismantled the way we were.

“There’s no excuses. We knew the run of games we were coming into and we plan our best for them because we have to respect the opposition.”

West Brom climbed back into the Sky Bet Championship’s top six with a 2-0 win against 10-man latecomers QPR at the Hawthorns in a game Jimmy Dunne will want to forget.

Brandon Thomas-Asante netted a 59th-minute penalty before man-of-the-match Grady Diangana scored the second nine minutes later, after he had been tripped by Kenneth Paal for the spot-kick.

The penalty award led to the dismissal of QPR defender Dunne for a second bookable offence for dissent, just two minutes after he was shown a yellow card after being injured.

The result meant West Brom head coach Carlos Corberan could celebrate his one-year anniversary – in stark contrast to opposite number Gareth Ainsworth, who lost for the fifth time in a row.

Until the penalty it looked like West Brom were going to be left doubly frustrated by QPR – first by the Londoners’ late arrival, then by their defence.

The game, which was due to start at 8pm, kicked off 10 minutes late following the delayed arrival of the QPR squad due to traffic following an incident in Birmingham city centre.

Corberan, 40, who will have been in the Baggies hotseat for 12 months on Wednesday, saw his injury-hit side find chances hard to come by until the decisive penalty.

West Brom started the brighter but Thomas-Asante failed to control a beautifully-flighted ball over the top from Diangana which left him through on goal.

Darnell Furlong headed powerfully over the crossbar from eight yards from Erik Pieters’ up-and-under cross.

West Brom looked to find some much-needed inspiration after the break and Okay Yokuslu looped a header over from Matt Phillips’ free-kick.

But they had to be alert at the other end as only a vital block from Cedric Kipre denied Ilias Chair from Reggie Cannon’s cutback.

The breakthrough came when Paal clumsily tripped Diangana as the winger cut in from the right.

Thomas-Asante thumped home the resulting spot-kick into the top corner to end his seven-match drought in style with his fourth goal of the season.

Diangana hit a post with a superb curling effort before tapping home the second goal after Nathaniel Chalobah had beaten Osman Kakay and squared.

The goal – his first since February – came on his 100th league appearance for West Brom since his £20million permanent move from West Ham.

Substitute Jayson Molumby drove just wide in time added on.