West Bromwich Albion extended their lead at the top of the Championship table on Sunday afternoon with a 2-0 victory over Millwall at the Den.
The Baggies put in a fine display to go four points clear of the chasing pack, Leeds United and Fulham, following the weekend’s results.
Croatian playmaker Filip Krovinovic handed the visitors the lead just before half-time by curling home an effort from the edge of the box, then defender Dara O’Shea glanced in Kamil Grosicki’s corner six minutes from time to send them back to the west Midlands with all three points.
The selection of the Irish academy graduate raised question marks prior to kickoff with many fans wondering why the more natural right-back Darnell Furlong was once again omitted from the starting XI.
Oh, how they have egg on their face now.
As you can see from above, plenty of supporters were in disbelief at Slaven Bilic’s decision to opt for the 20-year-old over their summer signing.
It was the third straight game that O’Shea had started at right-back over Furlong, helping the side to a second successive clean sheet.
And when the youngster popped up with the headed winner in the 84th minute, their attitudes soon changed…
Fans were clearly belated by his goal using a range of capitals letters to emphasise their excitement, one supporter even said it was well deserved for a player who actually wanted to be at the club.
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There were plenty of other glowing endorsements as the game headed towards the full-time whistle and beyond..
“Exceptional,” “energetic,” and “real monster” were three words used to describe O’Shea’s performance, and of course other members of the Baggies faithful used it as an opportunity to take a dig at wantaway starlet Nathan Ferguson.
Quite a few believed the 20-year-old was a much better option than his former academy teammate.
Therefore, it seems as if Bilic was right to select O’Shea over Furlong as Albion came away with all three points, a clean sheet as well as a goal to his name.
Calling all EFL experts: Can you get full marks on this stadiums quiz?
As seen by the responses above, many supporters changed their tune quickly.
And in other news, West Brom boss Slaven Bilic must not repeat the same mistakes as Darren Moore…