Bristol City 0-0 West Brom: Robins and Baggies share the points after goalless draw

Alex Palmer makes a save for West Bromwich Albion against Bristol CityImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Alex Palmer's saves helped West Bromwich Albion seal a point at Ashton Gate

Bristol City are still without a home win in the Championship after an even game against West Bromwich Albion failed to produce a goal at Ashton Gate.

The home side were the better team in the first half with Mark Sykes hitting a post and Sam Bell the side netting.

Albion, without a win on the road in five matches now, were much improved after the break and went close through Jed Wallace and John Swift before a late penalty appeal was waved away when Josh Maja went down in the box.

The Robins had the best chance to win it though, only for Alex Palmer to save brilliantly from Harry Cornick in the closing stages to secure Albion's first clean sheet of the season.

Despite their solid start to the campaign, City came into the game looking to pick up their first league win at home and posed the more sustained threat as they shaded the first half.

After Bell hit the side netting, rather than work Palmer, the Albion goalkeeper nearly gifted City the opener 12 minutes before the break.

Having completely missed his attempted clearance from a long ball forward, Palmer was grateful to see Sykes' cross-shot strike the post and bounce away for Albion to clear.

The Baggies, who struggled to get their offensive threat together early on, created their best chance of the half when Brandon Thomas-Asante linked up nicely with Wallace only for Zak Vyner's last-gasp tackle to deny Thomas-Asante as he shaped to shoot.

Carlos Corberan would have wanted a lot more going forward from his Baggies side in the second half and the Spaniard got it.

Wallace almost put Albion in front only for Max O'Leary to claw away his effort from distance.

At the other end, Palmer had to be alert to tip over Sykes' header before Albion's joint top-scorer Swift came within inches of giving them the lead - and his third goal in as many games - as he crashed a header from Darnell Furlong's cross against the bar from 12 yards.

Palmer again had to illustrate his agility to frustrate the Robins, spreading himself superbly to deflect Cornick's effort wide as Nigel Pearson's side looked certain to win it at the end.

The Baggies saw their late appeals for a penalty waved away after Maja went down in the box after a challenge by Kal Naismith.

The point sees West Brom stay in 12th place with the Robins one point and two places above them.

Bristol City assistant manager Curtis Fleming:

"It was an archetypal Championship game. We played really well in the first half and created some great situations.

"What we lacked perhaps was a bit of quality in our decision making and that clinical edge you need to show in such a competitive league.

"Albion were always going to come into it in the second half, but again we had opportunities and their keeper has made a great save from Harry Cornick.

"When you are on top you really have to punish teams in the Championship and we didn't do that today."

West Brom head coach Carlos Corberan told BBC Radio WM:

"I'm pleased with the performance but, unfortunately, we couldn't score the winning goal.

"What I liked was the improvement in the attack and the defence in the second half. We know we compete better when we improve our levels.

"The fact that we attacked better, helped us to defend and sometimes you achieve a clean sheet as a consequence of the way you attack."

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