An early Saido Berahino goal has helped West Bromwich Albion to a 1-0 win against Southampton in this afternoon's Premier League clash at The Hawthorns.
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The hosts opened the scoring within the first 70 seconds as Chris Brunt's free kick was only half-cleared by Maya Yoshida, and Berahino was in the right place to rifle the rebound into the top corner.
West Brom continued to press and, just a few minutes later, Berahino charged towards Southampton's goal before playing in Brown Ideye, but the subsequent shot was blocked by the Saints backline.
Southampton manager Ronald Koeman reshuffled his formation early on in the face of the Baggies' dominance, bringing on winger Eljero Elia on for centre-back Florin Gardos and changing to 4-4-2.
On the half-hour mark, a defence-splitting pass from Morgan Schneiderlin fell to Sadio Mane inside the penalty area but, with teammates in good positions around him, he went for glory and fired over.
Berahino was forced off not long after the restart after pulling up with an apparent muscle injury, with Youssouf Mulumbu coming on for his first appearance under Tony Pulis.
The Baggies were then let off midway through the second half when Ryan Bertrand flashed a cross across the face of goal, but Graziano Pelle failed to find the finishing touch from just a few yards out.
The Italian striker scuffed another shot close to goal in the final stages of the game as West Brom were able to hold out for the win and climb to 13th in the Premier League table, while Southampton remain fifth.
Giuseppe Labellarte
