The wait goes on for West Bromwich Albion and all the while the threat of relegation deepens in these parts. Albion did just about everything but score on an afternoon that was a story of missed chances as the Midlands club’s winless run extended to 18 Premier League matches, leaving Alan Pardew still searching for his first victory since taking over and only Swansea City below them in the table.
Salomón Rondón was as guilty as anyone for failing to punish a disappointing Everton side, with the Venezuelan passing up presentable opportunities to score at the start of each half, and Craig Dawson will also wonder how on earth he headed Matty Phillips’s cross over from three yards out and with the goal at his mercy.
That sort of profligacy cost Albion dearly and enabled Sam Allardyce to leave the Hawthorns still unbeaten since becoming Everton manager. His side may even have pilfered three points at the end but Oumar Niasse, a second-half substitute, was denied by Ben Foster’s outstretched boot in the 89th minute. It was about the only meaningful effort on goal that Everton mustered on a day when it was tempting to think that Wayne Rooney had the right idea when he returned home on the morning of the match feeling unwell.
This game, in truth, was not much of a spectacle and desperately needed a goal to bring it to life. Albion, to their credit, kept probing and were by far the most likely team to score, yet there is a glaring lack of conviction in front of goal that badly needs to be addressed when the window reopens next week if they are to have any chance of climbing clear. Albion have scored only 14 goals in 20 league games this season and three of Pardew’s six matches in charge have ended in goalless draws.
Asked whether he was frustrated with the latest stalemate, Pardew said: “Yeah, a little bit. It’s not often you see a game where the ball is flashed across the box as many times as that without any contact. We put quality balls in from both sides and nine times out of 10 you win that game, but unfortunately we just couldn’t find that moment today. We missed a couple of chances early, whether that affected our strikers, I’m not sure.”
Pardew was talking specifically about the moment when Jay Rodriguez crossed from the left and Rondón, stood inside the six-yard box, somehow failed to get a touch to an inviting delivery. “If that had gone in it might have been a very different game,” the Albion manager said. “He [Rondón] might think Ashley [Williams] was going to head it perhaps and it just put him off momentarily. It was a chance you would expect him to score normally.”
Allardyce, who has become the first Everton manager to go undefeated in their first seven matches, was delighted to travel home with something to show for his side’s defensive resilience. He acknowledged that Everton need to improve with the ball but flagged up the number of youngsters in their starting XI, as well as the absence of a proven centre‑forward to lead the line, as mitigating factors.
“It’s a great point for us under the pressure we’ve come under today from West Brom,” Allardyce said. “I think that our defensive qualities yet again were a major part of our afternoon.
“I think with our troubles at the moment with players missing, I suppose it’s only to be expected that we’re not delivering anything like the performance in possession you would expect. But in terms of what we’re doing defensively, only conceding two in eight is a remarkable turnaround from a team that conceded 28 in eight.”
The sight of Yannick Bolasie making his first appearance in over 12 months was a positive sign for Everton, although Allardyce admitted that the winger, who was withdrawn just after the hour, was “a long way off his best” and will need time to get up to speed. A striker remains the Everton manager’s priority, although he ruled out any prospect of the club making a fresh move for Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud.
Albion’s need for an upgrade in that department is every bit as great. Rondón works tirelessly up front but he has scored only three times in the Premier League this season and the left-footed shot that he sliced horribly wide, two minutes before limping off with a hamstring problem, rather summed up his day.
