Pulis Praises West Brom’s ‘Best Performance’

West Brom manager Tony Pulis hailed Wednesday night’s winning performance against Swansea City as the best since he’s been at the club, as two second half goals gave his side all three points.

It was another disappointing performance from the Swans though, as Garry Monk’s side did look more positive in their play early on, dominating possession but showed very little for it in terms of chances on goal.

In fact, Ben Foster barely had a save to make as Pulis’ side showed excellent shape and organisation, allowing the Swans little space to get into good attacking areas in the final third.

While it wasn’t a good performance by any means, the Swans looked capable of playing out a 0-0 bore-draw at the break, as West Brom were relying on set pieces before creating two chances in open play to find the net after half time.

West Brom striker Ideye proved too much to handle in the second half as he opened the scoring when Berahino played the ball into him inside the box, before getting the better of Ashley Williams to find the net at the second attempt.

The two strikers swapped roles for the second. Montero was robbed inside his own half and Berahino curled in an excellent shot to guarantee the three points to give their survival hopes a major boost.

Afterwards, Pulis praised Ideye:

‘He’s a lovely lad. He works hard, he’s a good professional but he had a bad time here before I took over.

‘He had played a few games and not scored the goals the club expected him to score. But his attitude has been first class.

‘In today’s world there is no patience. People expect, expect and expect.

And if the person doesn’t match that expectation they moan like drains.

‘We’ve played him a few times and we’re happy that he stayed and delighted he got us a couple of goals.’

Talking about his team’s performance, he thought it was the best they’ve played since he joined the club:

‘It was a good performance tonight. It’s small steps to where we want to go.

‘Everyone will keep their feet on the ground. We played well in possession and out of possession. It’s the best they’ve played since I’ve been here, and against a very good Swansea side. We looked like a ‘team’.

‘The players take a lot of credit but it’s just one game and no two games are the same. The other games are going to be very difficult.’