West Bromwich Albion 1-2 Southampton

West Bromwich Albion's troubled week continued as Southampton scored in each half to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 2005.

Albion were looking to move on from an incident in which four senior players were interviewed by police after a taxi was stolen from outside a fast-food restaurant in Barcelona.

But the fifth-round tie started badly for the hosts when Saints centre-back Wesley Hoedt took advantage of slack defending to guide home James Ward-Prowse's corner.

Dusan Tadic's sublime chip seemed to put the game beyond the Baggies, only for Salomon Rondon's stunning volley to restore their hopes seconds later.

Alan Pardew's side, who are bottom of the Premier League, rallied as the home fans continued to provide their backing and Ahmed Hegazi's scuffed volley against the bar almost rewarded their support - despite the circumstances - with a late equaliser.

Southampton will discover their last-eight opponents when the draw is made at 20:00 GMT on Saturday.

• Follow all the reaction from The Hawthorns

• Pardew 'furious' with Evans & Barry over Barcelona incident

Mixed reception for Baggies duo

Albion pair Gareth Barry and Jonny Evans have made over 1,000 top-level appearances between them

West Brom defender Jonny Evans and midfielder Gareth Barry started the tie - just 60 hours after being involved in the late-night incident in the Spanish city on Thursday.

The pair, along with reserve goalkeeper Boaz Myhill and midfielder Jake Livermore, were interviewed but not arrested by police after allegedly driving the taxi back to their hotel without the driver at about 05:30 GMT.

The quartet issued an apology for breaking the club curfew on Friday.

With Myhill on the bench and Livermore missing because of injury, the focus fell on Evans and Barry as Pardew decided to play them against Southampton - though the former was replaced as captain by fellow defender Gareth McAuley.

When their names were read out as being in the starting line-up, they were greeted with a mixture of cheers and boos.

Some frustrated Albion fans booed when Barry sloppily gave away possession at the start of the second half, while a few more jeers were audible when the former England international was replaced after 72 minutes.

But, overall, it would be harsh to criticise the commitment of each player as they tried to win back the faith of their suffering supporters.

Albion woe continues

The incident involving Evans, Barry, Myhill and Livermore could not have come at a worse time for Albion.

Results have failed to improve since Pardew replaced Tony Pulis in November, with just one win in 23 matches since leaving them seven points from safety in the Premier League.

While there is speculation Pardew's job might already be under threat, chairman John Williams and chief executive Martin Goodman paid the price this week when they were sacked by owner Guochuan Lai.

Former Saints manager Pardew wanted his players to respond by "producing a performance" at The Hawthorns. Instead they made a shocking start.

A lack of organisation allowed an unmarked Hoedt to slot in from six yards and more defensive uncertainty could have cost them further before half-time.

However, Albion responded with a contrasting performance after the break as they played with renewed purpose and confidence.

Albion's second-half dominance can be illustrated by each side's heat map after the break. Albion, on the left, spent plenty of time in Southampton territory, while the visitors barely made it out past the halfway line.

Jay Rodriguez, Craig Dawson, Grzegorz Krychowiak and Hegazi all went close before Saints punished their profligacy on the counter-attack, with Tadic coolly controlling Guido Carillo's lobbed cross and dinking over Ben Foster.

Rondon's spectacular volley - reminiscent of Robin van Persie's title-clinching goal for Manchester United against Aston Villa in 2013 - provided hope as the Baggies upped the tempo even further.

With Saints pinned back in their own half, their best chances saw Hegazi hook against the woodwork and Rondon's follow-up cleared off the line.

But, despite having 15 attempts at goal, almost 60% possession and 31% of the second half in Southampton's third, they still could not force a replay.

Victorious Saints march on to crucial month

Southampton's problems might not be on the scale of those currently being endured by Saturday's opponents, but that will be no consolation to the many Saints fans concerned by their side's season.

Mauricio Pellegrino's team are third from bottom of the Premier League, a point from safety and facing a run of five matches which appear crucial to their survival hopes.

Saints visit seventh-placed Burnley next weekend and then face Stoke, Newcastle, Swansea and West Ham - all teams in the bottom half - in March.

So it was perhaps a little surprising Pellegrino did not decide to make several changes against West Brom.

The Argentine made only one switch to his starting XI from last weekend's 2-0 defeat by Liverpool, with the more attack-minded Nathan Redmond coming in for Oriol Romeu - and ultimately it paid off.

Saints showed more fluency than their hosts in the first half and although Albion dominated after the break, the visitors' superior sharpness in front of goal was worthy of a second win at The Hawthorns in the space of a fortnight.

Dutch defender Hoedt scored his first goal for Saints since arriving from Lazio in a £15m deal last summer

'We must believe in ourselves' - post-match reaction

Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino:

"It was important for us for many reasons. We go to the next round in one game and also because we wanted to give opportunities to players not playing too much. And we wanted to improve the spirit ahead of the next Premier League game.

"They were really strong in direct play and they are very good from set-plays. It was a really tight game, we were really focused. Now the most important thing is to believe in our job and our way."

'Can we play you every week?' - the stats

• Southampton won twice away from home in the same month against an opponent for the first time in their entire history.

• Hoedt scored his first goal since netting in a 7-3 win for Lazio against Sampdoria in May 2017.

• Ward-Prowse has had a hand in five goals in his past five appearances against West Brom in all competitions (three goals, two assists).

• Since his debut for West Brom in August 2015, Rondon has scored 25 goals - 15 more than any other Baggies player in that time.

• Since beating Liverpool in the last round of the FA Cup, West Brom have lost all four of their matches, conceding at least twice in each one.

What's next?

Both teams return their focus to Premier League survival. Albion host fellow strugglers Huddersfield Town on Saturday, 24 February (15:00 GMT), while Saints play Burnley at Turf Moor at the same time.