Darnell Furlong managed to shine for West Brom during what was a disappointing 2-1 defeat at home to Leicester City.
West Brom welcomed league leaders Leicester City in the Championship for today’s early kick-off.
It promised to be an enthralling battle between two of the most exciting and impressive teams in the division, and the game didn’t disappoint.
After a goalless first-half, the Foxes took the lead through Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall before Josh Maja scored what West Brom fans thought was a late equaliser.
Then in injury time, Leicester City broke on a blistering counter-attack and scored through Harry Winks to hand the Baggies their fifth Championship defeat of the campaign.
It was a hard-fought game and one where West Brom perhaps shot themselves in the foot after leaving themselves short in defence for the eventual Leicester winner, with the Baggies having pursued a second late goal themselves.
Despite the result, Baggies defender Darnell Furlong managed to impress.
Darnell Furlong stats vs Leicester City
Furlong bossed the defence for West Brom today.
He made some hugely important interventions and clearances to keep Leicester City from challenging Alex Palmer more than they did, and the stats paint a pretty picture for Furlong.
As per Sofascore, Furlong had the joint-most clearances of any Baggies player (4), more blocks than anyone on the pitch (2), and more tackles than any of his teammates to (4).
On top of that, Furlong had the joint-most ground duels won (5) among the West Brom players, whilst having the second-most touches of any Baggies player (68).
And Furlong’s defending caught the eye of reporter Joe Chapman during the game, who labelled a piece of Furlong defending as ‘brilliant’.
Late disappointment for West Brom against Leicester City
West Brom fans will certainly feel aggrieved by that late goal.
The Baggies were on the backfoot for most of the game and a point would’ve been a huge result for them, so why then did almost every West Brom player go up for that last corner which led to the Leicester goal?
Whether the instruction came from Carlos Corberan remains to be seen, but it was certainly naive from West Brom and it proved to be a costly mistake.
But there were certainly a lot of positives to take from today’s game; Furlong was one of a few players who impressed, along with the likes of Conor Townsend who made for a decent defensive display, barring two lapses on concentration.
The margins are fine in the Championship and today’s game gives Corberan more food for thought as he looks to cement the Baggies; place in the top six.
Up next is a trip to Sunderland next weekend.