West Bromwich Albion have come from behind to earn a 2-1 victory over Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium in the Premier League.
Roland Lamah had given Swansea the lead after 110 seconds, but the home side were made to pay for missing a series of chances during the opening 45 minutes.
West Brom returned for the second half with more urgency, and after Stephane Sessegnon had drilled a long-range strike into the bottom corner, Youssouf Mulumbu struck five minutes from time to win the match for the Baggies.
Below, Sports Mole assesses whether West Brom were deserving of the three points.
Match statistics
Swansea City
Shots: 15
On target: 4
Possession: 63%
Corners: 4
Fouls: 7
West Bromwich Albion
Shots: 13
On target: 4
Possession: 37%
Corners: 1
Fouls: 13
Was the result fair?
A draw would probably have been fair, but Swansea can have no complaints with the result. They wasted numerous chances during a one-sided first half, but they were made to pay by a ruthless second-half performance from the Baggies. Stephane Sessegnon and Youssouf Mulumbu both scored excellent long-range strikes that were worthy of winning any game, and manager Pepe Mel deserves credit for motivating his team after a dismal showing in the first period.
Swansea City's performance
All that was missing from Swansea's first-half performance was more goals, but that was ultimately their undoing at the Liberty Stadium. Manager Garry Monk would have been delighted with their application but horrified at their failure to double their lead; for all of their possession in the second period, they never looked likely to add to their solitary goal.
West Bromwich Albion's performance
The writing appeared to be on the wall for Pepe Mel after a lethargic start to the game, and despite it taking a half-time team talk to get his side going, the Spaniard has earned his first win for the West Midlands outfit. It was far from a perfect performance, but his players showed plenty of desire to turn things around and Mel will take genuine hope into the remainder of the campaign.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Ben Foster: Roland Lamah looked a constant threat during an all-action performance in the first half, but he hardly featured after the break, so this award goes to Ben Foster. The goalkeeper pulled off a series of important blocks for the Baggies, with his point-blank save from Wilfried Bony early in the first half saving his team from a heavy defeat.
Biggest gaffe
Rather than one individual gaffe, there were several from Swansea as they failed to score a second goal. On another day, they would have had a four-goal lead at half time, and their lack of confidence in front of goal might be cause for concern for Monk.
Referee performance
Martin Atkinson gave a solid display, but he missed a possible red-card offence in the first half when Graham Dorrans went in late on Ben Davies. The challenge brought an apology from the West Brom midfielder, which indicates that he knew that he was lucky not to reduce his side to 10 men.
What next?
Swansea City: The Swans face back-to-back trips to Everton and Arsenal, before hosting Norwich City at the Liberty Stadium.
West Bromwich Albion: West Brom travel to Hull City next weekend, before hosting Cardiff City in a huge match at The Hawthorns.
Darren Plant
