Blackpool held off a spirited fight back by nine-man West Brom to earn their first Premier League win at Bloomfield Road.
Blackpool hold off spirited fight back from nine-man Baggies
Blackpool held off a spirited fight back by nine-man West Brom to earn their first Premier League win at Bloomfield Road.
Pablo Ibanez was sent off for bringing down DJ Campbell as the last man in the box on 11 minutes, with Charlie Adam putting away the subsequent penalty.
The Baggies then went down to nine men when Gonzalo Jara was sent off for a two footed scissor-kick challenge in the air on Luke Varney.
The Seasiders made their numerical advantage count when Varney slotted home Elliot Grandin's cross on 62 minutes.
But the Baggies refused to give up and Youssouf Mulumbu scored with five minutes to set up a grandstand finish, with chances for Paul Scharner and Steven Reid, but the Seasiders held on for the win to end West Brom's six-game unbeaten league run.
The visitors gave a first league start to Simon Cox while Jara joined him in place of injured duo Jonas Olsson and James Morrison.
Cox almost gave his side an early lead following a neat exchange with Chris Brunt before his low shot was tipped wide by Matt Gilks.
Major blow
But the Baggies' hopes were dealt their first major blow as they lost their first of two players to a red card after 11 minutes.
Campbell ran onto an Adam through ball and was brought down by Ibanez, with referee Michael Oliver, who at 25 became the Premier League's youngest ever match official earlier this season, having no hesitation in pointing to the spot and then showing the obligatory red card to Ibanez as the last man.
Adam then blasted the penalty past Scott Carson, who did get hands on the ball, to give his side the lead.
West Brom boss Roberto Di Matteo shuffled his reduced line-up by replacing Cox with Reid, and his side almost snuck a goal back when Gilks misjudged a Brunt free-kick, palming a delivery which was going out of play back into the six-yard box, but the chance was snuffed out.
But the away side's task became almost insurmountable when Jara became their second player to see red just before the half hour.
The Chilean defender needlessly scythed down Varney with a terrible two-footed challenge near the corner flag leaving Oliver with no option but to show red.
Di Matteo further shuffled his pack by replacing Marc-Antoine Fortune with Graham Dorrans, who almost grabbed a goal back only to slice his effort wide.
Survived scare
Blackpool survived a scare shortly after the break when Craig Cathcart under-hit a pass and Dorrans won the ball to send Jerome Thomas on a quick break.
Cathcart immediately redeemed himself, however, with a diving block to keep out Thomas' goal-bound shot.
The hosts were clearly intent on stretching West Brom's limited numbers with attacks down the flanks and that policy should have provided a second goal only for Varney to head a teasing cross straight into the arms of Carson from six yards.
With only a goal in the game West Brom had enough reason to retain some belief and started to push numbers forward.
It proved their undoing, however, as Blackpool found a second goal to give them a comfortable advantage in the 62nd minute.
The industrious David Vaughan recovered the ball high up the pitch and quickly played in Grandin, who drove into the area and, with the exposed Carson committed to his near post, slid a pass across the face of goal for Varney to tap in.
That should have made the rest of the night comfortable for Blackpool but some poor defending allowed West Brom a way back into the game five minutes from the end.
Giles Barnes almost got onto a through ball but Gilks was out of his area to partially clear before Reid the ball on to Mulumbu, who was able to trick his way into the area and curled a shot in at the far post to set up a nervy end.
The away fans suddenly sensed their side could snatch a remarkable draw and Scharner almost found it when he headed a Brunt free-kick narrowly wide before Reid blasted over following a goalmouth scramble but the Seasiders held on for the win to go ninth in the table.
| Blackpool |
Team Statistics |
West Bromwich Albion |
| 2 |
Goals |
1 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 5 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 14 |
Shots off Target |
7 |
| 7 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 8 |
Corners |
2 |
| 16 |
Fouls |
13 |
| 2 |
Offsides |
3 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
3 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
2 |
| 87.5 |
Passing Success |
80.5 |
| 16 |
Tackles |
12 |
| 56.2 |
Tackles Success |
58.3 |
| 65.7 |
Possession |
34.3 |
| 59.7 |
Territorial Advantage |
40.3 |
|
