West Bromwich Albion 3-0 Harrogate Town: Baggies reach third round of Carabao Cup
- Published
West Brom scored two outstanding goals on their way to beating English Football League newcomers Harrogate Town to advance to the third round of the Carabao Cup.
The Baggies made 10 changes to the side that started Sunday's 3-0 home defeat by Leicester on their Premier League return, and gave debuts to three players.
England youth midfielder Rekeem Harper fired Slaven Bilic's side ahead with a clever shot on the turn before Wales forward Hal Robson-Kanu doubled the lead from 25 yards.
Keeper David Button, making his first West Brom appearance since signing from Brighton, denied Aaron Martin with a one-handed save before substitute Callum Robinson's tap-in made it 3-0.
The Baggies will host Southampton or Brentford, who play later on Wednesday, in the third round.
Defender Dara O'Shea was the only survivor from the side that started against Leicester but West Brom's fringe players produced a professional performance against the League Two visitors.
Defenders Cedric Kipre and Lee Peltier were also making their first competitive starts for the hosts, who took control after two excellent goals in the space of four first-half minutes.
Harper found the bottom corner after turning and firing a shot beyond Joe Cracknell before Robson-Kanu's first goal in the competition for over a decade.
The 31-year-old picked his spot from outside the penalty area - his first goal in the competition for 10 years and 23 days.
Harrogate, the first team to face Premier League opponents in their first season in the competition since Accrington Stanley in 2006-07, acquitted themselves well but West Brom's quality saw them through.
Their third goal arrived after great work by Kyle Edwards, who beat a defender before bursting into the penalty area for Robinson to score his first goal since joining permanently from Sheffield United.
'We should have scored more' - what they said
West Brom boss Slaven Bilic: "We scored two wonderful goals, the effort was there, the quality in the second half was there.
"The only negative was we should have scored more goals. We are through and it's good for the guys who didn't play against Leicester because we will need them in the Premier League.
"The whole team, especially the back four, were on the front foot."
Harrogate boss Simon Weaver: "It's a shame to lose any game but we can take a lot of pride from the performance.
"We didn't change policy for a Premier League team and we caused some problems. There were fine finishes from them but it was testament to the character of our players we didn't lie down.
"I didn't see any dropped shoulders or people beating themselves up. If we get them in the FA Cup we should make a better fist of it because we've learned a lot."