An injury-time goal for Oxford United denied the Baggies all three points as Oxford secured a dramatic equalizer at Kassam Stadium on Saturday.
A early Saturday dinnertime kick off for the second straight away game as Sheffield Wednesday 3 weeks ago we start with a 12:30pm kick-off at Oxford.
Oxford also gave us a first half scare when Alex Palmer was kept out Mark Harris’ finish, as well as Elliott Moore’s attempt. But then the Baggies controlled proceedings after that – with Darnell Furlong flashing a good drive narrowly wide and Torbjorn Heggem heading just over in search of the breakthrough.
It took 29 minutes for us to find the opener with Karlan Grant scoring from long range to make it 1-0 to the Baggies.
Oxford United came for a response when Ciaron Brown nodded a corner off-target, the Baggies was in control and kept the scoreline at 1-0 in the break.
The Baggies looked for a second goal and continued creating opportunities, playing some fantastic, football and going close through Grant’s bravely blocked volley and Racic’s comfortably-saved effort.
Oxford had threatened the Baggies more when the match restarted, failing to test Alex Palmer, with Vaulks firing their best chance from a few feet past the post.
Grant and Racic both had shots wide towards the end, however it was Oxford United who would land the final blow of the day through a long throw when Scarlett latched onto the throw heading into the bottom corner to leave the Baggies their missed opportunity to sit in the automatic places at the Kassam Stadium.
Oxford United: Cumming, Kioso, Moore, Nelson, Brown, Vaulks, Dembele (Ebiowei 74′), Rodrigues (Sibley 64′), El Mizouni (Dale 84′), Goodrham, Harris (Scarlett 64′)
West Brom: Palmer; Furlong, Ajayi, Bartley, Heggem; Racic (Molumby 83), Mowatt; Fellows (Wallace 70), Diangana (Swift 70), Grant; Maja (Johnston 83).
Oxford United 1-1 West Brom
Goalscorers for Oxford United: Dane Scarlett
Goalscorers for West Brom: Karlan Grant
Another blow and heartbreak by conceding late on to Oxford United, it looked certain we would be picking up three points on our travels but Oxford denied it late on and now we go 4 games without a win.
However, Oxford is a tough place to go to for any Championship side at the moment as they are a newly promoted side and doing well still in the playoffs with 2 games coming up in the next week with Blackburn away on Wednesday evening and then a home game to Cardiff City next Saturday.