Blackburn Rovers 0, Albion 1
If Bobby Zamora never scores another goal for Albion he has already justified his return to the club.
He will score again, of course. He has done that for large chunks of his career, especially in the blue and white stripes.
Zamora's contribution in his second stint at the club has become extra special due to the value of his goals.
All goals are important but some are more important than others. Of the six he has scored in six Championship starts and a raft of substitute appearances, five have come in tight wins against Leeds, Bristol City, Birmingham, Charlton and now Blackburn.
The other, also at the start of the match at Rovers' red rose county neighbours Burnley, helped Albion to a draw.
They have not been goals, as some were in his prolific first stint at the club, enriching empahtic victories, they have all really mattered.
None have been what you would call spectacular. Zamora said: "I don't think I have scored outside the box, or outside the six-yard box, since I've been back.
"The lads are just ripping me for it but I don't really care, as long as the ball goes in the back of the net and we get three points then superb."
Nor should he care about being Bobby on the spot. It is the sign of a natural born goalscorer, the knack of being in the right place at the right time.
That is exactly how it was in only the third minute at Ewood Park. The Blackburn defence was at sixes and sevens when Jamie Murphy's low drive rebounded off a post.
There was Zamora, lurking unmarked in the box to slot into an empty net, a nice 35th birthday present.
One of the simplest of the 82 goals he has scored in 146 appearances for the Seagulls, a remarkable ratio, has taken him beyond the tally of 1970's and 1980's hero Peter Ward.
It was also one of the most important. By the time Albion kicked off in snowy Lancashire, Sheffield Wednesday had already taken the points in their Yorkshire derby against Leeds to knock them out of the top six.
Had it stayed that way, had they not returned to winning ways after four defeats out of five since that unbeaten 21-match start, the psychological fall-out could have been considerable.
It was not all down to Zamora. Albion still had 87 minutes and four more of added time to defend the lead he provided.
Defend they did with gusto. Zamora, re-signed for a year, is about the past and present, Lewis Dunk and Connor Goldson are more about the long-term future.
Dunk has endured plenty of criticism lately, much of it deserved after goal-costing mistakes in the 1-0 defeats against Rotherham, Hull in the FA Cup and Ipswich, as well as a reckless red card at QPR.
This time he was an unblemished tower of strength, a reminder of his Premier League potential. Goldson, making his full away League debut alongside him with skipper Gordon Greer back in the treatment room, was not far behind.
Together with the assured David Stockdale, deputy captain Bruno and Liam Ridgewell, they dealt with a succession of balls into the box from crosses, long throws and other set pieces aimed at the twin aerial threat of Jordan Rhodes and Chris Brown, handed his first League start of the season by Paul Lambert.
Chris Hughton, who took over from Lambert at Norwich before becoming Albion's manager, said: "We knew they would be fairly direct and certainly, when we saw the teamsheet and Brown was playing up top, then we knew they were going to go very direct.
"We knew we'd have to defend well and that Beram (Kayal) and Dale (Stephens) would have to provide a shield in front, because they get the ball wide and have got very good crossers of the ball.
"We had to do an awful lot, a lot of set plays, corners. Overall the defensive performance was excellent. It needed to be and you need that little bit of quality that is going to get you a goal.
"These are the type of games where you have got to show the horrible side, defending, getting bodies back behind the ball, showing a real rugged desire and being competitive."
To put it another way, as Bruno remarked several times in the build-up to the game, Albion went back to basics, just as the circumstances demanded.
Rovers, for all their huff and puff, only seriously threatened an equaliser twice, when Rhodes drove into the side netting in the first half and Ben Marshall struck the angle of post and crossbar from a 20-yard free-kick after the interval.
Albion, confidence restored by the early breakthrough, were much brighter going forward than they have been away from home lately.
Zamora might have scored a hat-trick. Jason Steele parried one effort and he made a bit of a horlicks of another chance presented to him by the half-fit Matt Kilgallon, who was dreadful.
Albion, in contrast to the misfortunes which accompanied their slump, got a bit of luck in that respect. Kilgallon had to be drafted in at centre-half to replace the injured Shane Duffy, who, according to former Albion defender and regular Rovers watcher Graeme Atkinson, has performed dependably.
Newcomer Anthony Knockaert, with his low centre of gravity, almost provided second half breathing space when he hit a post with a shot from 12 yards dug out from a cross by a back-to-form Jamie Murphy.
The luxury of winning by two clear goals has not been enjoyed since defeat Derby at the Amex in March but a resilient display all-round made sure of only the second clean sheet since early November.
Crucially, there were no individual errors of the kind that have hampered Hughton's side in recent weeks.
Albion are good at protecting leads. They have won ten matches, drawn six and lost none after scoring first this season.
If reliability returns consistently then, with key injuries gradually clearing, a new striker by the end of the month and Zamora to fall back on, a top six finish is still well within reach.
Original article
If Bobby Zamora never scores another goal for Albion he has already justified his return to the club.
He will score again, of course. He has done that for large chunks of his career, especially in the blue and white stripes.
Zamora's contribution in his second stint at the club has become extra special due to the value of his goals.
All goals are important but some are more important than others. Of the six he has scored in six Championship starts and a raft of substitute appearances, five have come in tight wins against Leeds, Bristol City, Birmingham, Charlton and now Blackburn.
The other, also at the start of the match at Rovers' red rose county neighbours Burnley, helped Albion to a draw.
They have not been goals, as some were in his prolific first stint at the club, enriching empahtic victories, they have all really mattered.
None have been what you would call spectacular. Zamora said: "I don't think I have scored outside the box, or outside the six-yard box, since I've been back.
"The lads are just ripping me for it but I don't really care, as long as the ball goes in the back of the net and we get three points then superb."
Nor should he care about being Bobby on the spot. It is the sign of a natural born goalscorer, the knack of being in the right place at the right time.
That is exactly how it was in only the third minute at Ewood Park. The Blackburn defence was at sixes and sevens when Jamie Murphy's low drive rebounded off a post.
There was Zamora, lurking unmarked in the box to slot into an empty net, a nice 35th birthday present.
One of the simplest of the 82 goals he has scored in 146 appearances for the Seagulls, a remarkable ratio, has taken him beyond the tally of 1970's and 1980's hero Peter Ward.
It was also one of the most important. By the time Albion kicked off in snowy Lancashire, Sheffield Wednesday had already taken the points in their Yorkshire derby against Leeds to knock them out of the top six.
Had it stayed that way, had they not returned to winning ways after four defeats out of five since that unbeaten 21-match start, the psychological fall-out could have been considerable.
It was not all down to Zamora. Albion still had 87 minutes and four more of added time to defend the lead he provided.
Defend they did with gusto. Zamora, re-signed for a year, is about the past and present, Lewis Dunk and Connor Goldson are more about the long-term future.
Dunk has endured plenty of criticism lately, much of it deserved after goal-costing mistakes in the 1-0 defeats against Rotherham, Hull in the FA Cup and Ipswich, as well as a reckless red card at QPR.
This time he was an unblemished tower of strength, a reminder of his Premier League potential. Goldson, making his full away League debut alongside him with skipper Gordon Greer back in the treatment room, was not far behind.
Together with the assured David Stockdale, deputy captain Bruno and Liam Ridgewell, they dealt with a succession of balls into the box from crosses, long throws and other set pieces aimed at the twin aerial threat of Jordan Rhodes and Chris Brown, handed his first League start of the season by Paul Lambert.
Chris Hughton, who took over from Lambert at Norwich before becoming Albion's manager, said: "We knew they would be fairly direct and certainly, when we saw the teamsheet and Brown was playing up top, then we knew they were going to go very direct.
"We knew we'd have to defend well and that Beram (Kayal) and Dale (Stephens) would have to provide a shield in front, because they get the ball wide and have got very good crossers of the ball.
"We had to do an awful lot, a lot of set plays, corners. Overall the defensive performance was excellent. It needed to be and you need that little bit of quality that is going to get you a goal.
"These are the type of games where you have got to show the horrible side, defending, getting bodies back behind the ball, showing a real rugged desire and being competitive."
To put it another way, as Bruno remarked several times in the build-up to the game, Albion went back to basics, just as the circumstances demanded.
Rovers, for all their huff and puff, only seriously threatened an equaliser twice, when Rhodes drove into the side netting in the first half and Ben Marshall struck the angle of post and crossbar from a 20-yard free-kick after the interval.
Albion, confidence restored by the early breakthrough, were much brighter going forward than they have been away from home lately.
Zamora might have scored a hat-trick. Jason Steele parried one effort and he made a bit of a horlicks of another chance presented to him by the half-fit Matt Kilgallon, who was dreadful.
Albion, in contrast to the misfortunes which accompanied their slump, got a bit of luck in that respect. Kilgallon had to be drafted in at centre-half to replace the injured Shane Duffy, who, according to former Albion defender and regular Rovers watcher Graeme Atkinson, has performed dependably.
Newcomer Anthony Knockaert, with his low centre of gravity, almost provided second half breathing space when he hit a post with a shot from 12 yards dug out from a cross by a back-to-form Jamie Murphy.
The luxury of winning by two clear goals has not been enjoyed since defeat Derby at the Amex in March but a resilient display all-round made sure of only the second clean sheet since early November.
Crucially, there were no individual errors of the kind that have hampered Hughton's side in recent weeks.
Albion are good at protecting leads. They have won ten matches, drawn six and lost none after scoring first this season.
If reliability returns consistently then, with key injuries gradually clearing, a new striker by the end of the month and Zamora to fall back on, a top six finish is still well within reach.
Original article