Daryl Dike scored a brace to help West Brom produce one of the most comfortable football scores of the weekend in the Championship. Dike, a USA international, scored in the eighth minute after being set up by Jed Wallace, and two minutes later Dike provided a cushion for Albion. Boro, who had been on a roll before Saturday, was very modest in the final third, and they now find themselves seven points behind second-placed Sheffield United after falling 2-0. The first goal was expertly constructed. Swift scooped up the ball on the left and slid Wallace in down the flank, who had held his stride to escape the offside flag. His center was turned in delicately beneath compatriot Zack Steffen.
Things got much better for the American nearly soon after, when Wallace found Swift and put it on Dike. He needed two shots on goal to defeat Steffen. After their early setback, the high-flying visitors began to relax and began applying pressure around the hosts’ penalty area, but Albion kept them at arm’s length. Indeed, they appeared to be the favorites to score a third goal. Wallace missed a chance at the back post after Grady Diangana and Conor Townsend combined well, and Dike was inches away from completing his hat-trick when the ball was plucked from his toes by the alert Jonny Howson.
Boro, who have the division’s leading scorer in Chuba Akpom, eventually tested inexperienced goalkeeper Josh Griffiths with a blistering drive into the top corner. Griffiths was able to tip it over the bar at full stretch. Akpom warmed up his hands with a header on goal. The game should have been over a little more than five minutes after the second half began. Dike was spotted in the penalty area with his back to the goal by substitute Marc Albrighton, who rolled Paddy McNair before jinking past the last man. With just Steffen to beat, the goalkeeper made a spectacular stop with his legs.
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