Blackburn Rovers 2-1 West Bromwich Albion: Rovers go top of Championship
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Ben Brereton Diaz's curled effort from the edge of the box was his second goal of the season
Ben Brereton Diaz scored one and made another as Blackburn Rovers went top of the Championship with a 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion.
Having not had a shot for much of the first half, star Rovers forward Brereton Diaz gave his side the lead with a curling left-footed effort into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
Shortly after the interval the Chile international turned provider with some excellent work down the left wing to feed Sam Gallagher, who side-footed home from 18 yards.
Grady Diangana pulled one back soon after his strike took a deflection which wrong-footed Thomas Kaminski in the Rovers goal.
But the hosts held on to go two points clear at the top of the Championship - the only side with three wins from their first three games - while winless West Brom drop to 20th place with two points from three matches, after their first defeat.
Blackburn have won their first three games of a season for the first time since 1988, when Rovers went on to finish fifth in the old Second Division, before losing to Crystal Palace in the play-off final.
The Baggies started the brightest as Darnell Furlong headed a corner wide in the first minute, while Diangana's 17th-minute far-post header drifted wide after a good ball from Jed Wallace.
Having created little it was a moment of magic from Brereton Diaz as he brilliantly controlled Callum Brittain's pass, allowing him a bit of space to bend his shot around the defender.
The striker, who scored 22 goals for Rovers last season, turned provider for his side's second in what would be their only other attempt on target.
Steve Bruce's side should have levelled the game - Wallace had a free-kick that was deflected over the bar, while Karlan Grant just missed getting on the end of Callum Robinson's flick with 22 minutes to go.
The Baggies' best effort came in the 79th minute when Diangana's cross was met by Karlan Grant, but Thomas Kaminski was on hand to pull off a superb save.
The game - which had water breaks in either half due to the extreme heat - had 11 minutes of stoppage time with Semi Ajayi almost getting an equaliser in the eighth, but he headed Wallace's corner wide after Kaminski came out and failed to gather the ball.
Blackburn Rovers head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson told BBC Radio Lancashire:
"It was a fantastic result against one of the better sides in the league, one of the teams who were bigger in regards to parachute money as well.
"It was a great performance. We knew with those good players they would ask a lot of questions regarding how to cope with different situations.
"But my players did a tremendous job coping with those situations. They stuck together under difficult circumstances, not only the weather but the changes before and during the game, but you could see the team spirit."
West Bromwich Albion manager Steve Bruce told BBC WM:
"We've created enough chances but unfortunately we haven't taken them. Since I've been at the club since last February some of the performances have been very good without us being able to take our chances.
"Too often we've relied on [Karlan] Granty and that has to improve, we have to improve that area.
"It's difficult, of course, but one we're going to work on."