West Brom 1-0 Sunderland: Sunday Mirror match report
Published 23:00 21/08/10 By Ray Matts
Peter Odemwinge experienced the agony and the ecstasy of his new life as a Premier League footballer.
After a hectic 24 hours, when the Nigerian World Cup star completed a £2m move to West Bromwich, he strolled off The Hawthorns pitch with a massive smile on his face.
It could so easily have been a grimace of disappointment.
The man with the awkward moniker missed, by a mile, a gilt-edged early chance to impress Albion fans.
But then he had the great satisfaction of earning maximum points at the expense of Steve Bruce’s injury-ravaged Sunderland, courtesy of his cracking 81st-minute strike.
No self-respecting Baggie will now have any difficulty pronouncing the name of the 29-year-old striker who not only changed clubs from Lokomotiv Moscow but also, one suspects, his lifestyle.
It is impossible to under- estimate the impact of this victory to Albion morale, following last weekend’s shocking six-goal hammering suffered at Chelsea.
Albion boss Roberto Di Matteo gambled by selecting Odemwingie, after a preciously short spell for him to meet and get to know his team-mates and their style of play.
Yet, in a sense, Di Matteo had very little to lose after that horrendous visit to Stamford Bridge the previous week.
And his risk paid dividends as the newcomer — looking lean, fit and full of running — settled in to the attack as though he’d been with the club for years rather than hours.
“I was looking for a reaction from all the players after last week’s result, and I thought they tried very hard to show that they have something to offer at a higher level,” admitted Di Matteo. “It was also nice to keep a clean sheet.
“I believed it was a gamble worth taking, because my first view of Peter indicated that he had quality. And there was no question about his experience at the top level.
“He showed that today, and it was terrific to see him performance so well.”
Odemwingie’s first chance came a little too quickly.
On seven minutes, Chris Brunt’s through-ball sliced open the defence and presented the new striker with a heaven-sent opportunity to make an instant impact.
He raced to the edge of the penalty area, but Titus Bramble forced him in to a hurried low right-footed shot that was badly off-target. Despite that terrible missed chance, Odemwingie wooed fans with his competitive attitude and movement off the ball.
When he finally scored late in the game to deliver three precious points, the stadium went wild with delight. It was a goal that demonstrated both his control and predatory power.
Gonzalo Jara found James Morrison in the middle of the field and slid the ball between Sunderland’s two centre-backs, Paulo Da Silva and Bramble.
This time there was no hestitation from Odemwingie.
He neatly collected the ball, took a stride forwards and slammed his cross-shot low past stunned goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.
And Chris Brunt produced a man-of-the-match performance to twice go close to adding to Albion’s tally.
Sunderland boss Bruce fumed: “We just didn’t get started, but we were the better team after the break.
“Albion’s new guy [Odemwingie] presented a problem to our centre-backs all the game and he did okay”.
