West Brom head coach Tony Mowbray has challenged his players to become more clinical after a 2-0 win against Oxford.
Former Oxford loan midfielder Alex Mowatt’s 11th-minute goal and substitute John Swift’s effort 11 minutes into added time moved the Baggies up to fifth in the Championship.
But Albion, who had 22 shots, should have won more comfortably.
Oxford goalkeeper Jamie Cumming denied Adam Armstrong, Jayson Molumby and Mowatt and the hosts wasted chances galore.
“We say the same every week,” said Mowbray. “We dominated Blackburn yet lost 2-0 after not taking our chances.
“We’ve got to get better at creating 20 chances and hitting the target in at least 10 of them and scoring three or four goals.
“At the moment we’re getting four or five on target out of 15 or 20 and we have to be more clinical.
“We have to find ways of getting behind them or playing through them.”
Mowbray felt his team did enough to return to winning ways after a defeat to Blackburn and a draw with Millwall.
“It was a deserved win and the right result if there is such a thing,” he added.
“It was tighter than we would have liked with them having long throw-ins at the end.
“But we dominated for long spells and played a lot of the game in their half of the pitch and our goalkeeper didn’t have to make a save.”
Oxford head coach Gary Rowett claimed his side were denied a penalty for handball at 1-0 when Cameron Brannagan’s shot hit a West Brom defender.
“I’ve watched it back and it was a blatant penalty – Brannagan’s shot was blocked by their guy who had his arm outstretched,” Rowett said.
“I think seven of our players appealed instantly and it was a moment that could have got us something.”
Rowett added: “It was a poor start from us and we allowed them to dictate the game but Tony Mowbray teams do that.
“It would help not to concede a goal after 11 minutes although it was good play from them.
“After that we huffed and puffed but we put them under some good pressure with five, 10 minutes to go.”
Oxford, now winless in six, have not scored int heir last four matches.
But Rowett said: “Of course when you have a period when you don’t score it weighs on people’s minds.
“When you’re a defender and you go a goal down, you think, ‘are we going to score two to win?’
“But when we won five and drew four of our first 13 games I wasn’t thinking we were going to score three every game.”
Ange Postecoglou insisted his controversial cupped ear celebration to Tottenham fans in a 1-0 loss at Chelsea had been misinterpreted on another bad night for the Australian.Spurs slipped to a 16th defeat in the Premier League this season thanks to a 50th-minute header by Enzo Fernandez, but it only told half the story of a typically frenzied London derby.VAR was required to rule out a fine strike...
Chelsea climbed back into the Premier League’s top four as Enzo Fernandez’s header early in the second half earned a 1-0 derby win over Tottenham at Stamford Bridge.Enzo Maresca’s side were under pressure after limping into the international break playing football that had ceased to excite home fans, but they largely had the better of a disappointing Spurs team that failed to tak...
David Moyes believes James Tarkowski was lucky to avoid a red card for his reckless challenge on Alexis Mac Allister as Everton were beaten 1-0 by Liverpool on a controversial night at Anfield.Diogo Jota’s 57th-minute goal, which Moyes claimed should have been ruled out for offside, gave Liverpool a 100th derby win and moved them a step closer to the Premier League title, but both sides were...
Jack Grealish dedicated his goal to his late brother after scoring in Manchester City’s 2-0 win over relegation-threatened Leicester on Wednesday.The England international hit his first Premier League goal for 16 months, on his first start in the competition since last December, as City moved back into fourth with a comfortable success at the Etihad Stadium.It came on the 25th anniversary of...
David Moyes bemoaned an “offside” goal that gave Liverpool a 1-0 win over Everton – but admitted James Tarkowski was lucky to avoid an early red card on a controversial night at Anfield.Diogo Jota’s 57th-minute goal gave Liverpool a 100th derby win and moved them a step closer to the Premier League title, but both sides were left unhappy with decisions from referee Sam Barr...
Eddie Howe hailed Sandro Tonali’s shooting power after seeing him cap a fine display with a stunning winner to edge Newcastle into the race for Champions League qualification.The 24-year-old Italy international brought an incident-packed encounter to a fitting conclusion with a 74th-minute piledriver which beat goalkeeper Mark Flekken from an improbable angle to hand the Magpies a precious 2...
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery believes Marcus Rashford is “progressively getting better” in all aspects of his game following his first Premier League goal for the club.The on-loan Manchester United forward set Villa on course for a comprehensive 3-0 win over fellow European hopefuls Brighton with a 51st-minute finish at the Amex Stadium.Rashford’s milestone strike came three days ...
Southampton boss Ivan Juric vowed to keep fighting as relegation moved sharply into focus after Crystal Palace denied them only a third Premier League win of the season.Substitute Matheus Franca’s stoppage-time header, to secure a 1-1 draw for the Eagles, means Saints will be down at the weekend if they lose at Tottenham and Wolves beat Ipswich.If relegation is confirmed on Sunday, Southampt...
Derby boss John Eustace insists his side are reaping the rewards for the hard work they have put in since he was appointed as manager after the Rams earned a 2-0 win over Preston to climb out of the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone.Derby came out firing after a lacklustre opening period and Craig Forsyth coolly slotted the hosts in front with his fourth goal of the season.The Rams doubled thei...
Notts County manager Stuart Maynard hailed a “massive” three points as his side comfortably saw off MK Dons at Meadow Lane to maintain their promotion challenge.Two stunning strikes from David McGoldrick and Will Jarvis from the edge of the box, either side of Nick Tsaroulla’s close-range effort, earned County a convincing 3-0 win.“I think every three points is massive now,...
- 1 Hot WAG flaunts 'astonishing' washboard abs in bikini
- 2 Danny Rohl hails Sheffield Wednesday resilience in draw at Cardiff
- 3 Alfie May double sends Birmingham step closer to Championship
- 4 Marcus Rashford scores first Premier League goal for Villa in win at Brighton
- 5 Ryan Lowe and Conor Hourihane felt team deserved more as Wigan and Barnsley draw
- 6 Mat Sadler hails Taylor Allen set-piece skills after Walsall snatch draw
- 7 Chris Davies says Alfie May’s goal drought never concerned him
- 8 Football fan 'eats' raw pig's head in ultimate insult
- 9 Marcus Rashford still looking to improve after firing Villa into FA Cup semis
- 10 Chelsea prepare €70m for Barcelona defender