Darren Moore’s stock continues to rise with each game as the Baggies recorded another excellent result and prolonged their hopes of avoiding relegation for another week at least.
It is still a very faint hope and you can still get odds as long as 200/1 against Albion avoiding relegation, but Big Dave’s transformation of the team means that the hope has remained for much longer than was expected a few short weeks ago.
It was a victory that the Baggies deserved, and one that should have been more comfortable, but was decided by Matt Phillips’ strike that capped an excellent performance by the Scotland international.
Two tough games remain for the Baggies, with next week’s home match with fourth-placed Spurs followed by a trip to Selhurst Park to take on Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace who all but secured their Premier League status with a 5-0 thumping of Leicester City on Saturday.
In the Great Escape season, second-placed Arsenal beat the Baggies at the Hawthorns thanks to goals from Robin van Persie and Edu. That left Albion in 19th place while Southampton beat Norwich City 4-3 to move out of the relegation zone having been bottom of the table at the start of the weekend.
The bottom four clubs were now separated by just one point.
After that match the table stood as follows:
| Premier League Relegation Battle – 26th April 2005 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
| 17. | Southampton | 36 | 6 | 13 | 17 | 42 | 62 | -20 | 31 |
| 18. | Crystal Palace | 36 | 7 | 10 | 19 | 37 | 58 | -21 | 31 |
| 19. | West Brom | 36 | 5 | 15 | 16 | 33 | 60 | -27 | 30 |
| 20. | Norwich City | 36 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 41 | 71 | -30 | 30 |
Here are the full season by season comparisons.
| Home | Away | Season End | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Posn* | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Posn | Pts | |
| 2002/2003 | 36 | 6 | 6 | 24 | 26 | 62 | 24 | 19th | 3 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 32 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 11 | 30 | 11 | 19th | 26 |
| 2004/2005 | 36 | 5 | 15 | 16 | 33 | 60 | 30 | 19th | 4 | 8 | 6 | 15 | 24 | 20 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 18 | 36 | 10 | 17th | 34 |
| 2005/2006 | 36 | 7 | 8 | 21 | 29 | 55 | 29 | 19th | 6 | 2 | 10 | 21 | 23 | 20 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 8 | 32 | 9 | 19th | 30 |
| 2008/2009 | 36 | 8 | 7 | 21 | 36 | 65 | 31 | 20th | 7 | 3 | 8 | 26 | 31 | 24 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 10 | 34 | 7 | 20th | 32 |
| 2010/2011 | 36 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 52 | 68 | 43 | 13th | 7 | 6 | 5 | 29 | 30 | 27 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 23 | 38 | 16 | 11th | 47 |
| 2011/2012 | 36 | 13 | 7 | 16 | 41 | 47 | 46 | 10th | 6 | 3 | 9 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 22 | 28 | 25 | 10th | 47 |
| 2012/2013 | 36 | 14 | 6 | 16 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 8th | 9 | 3 | 6 | 27 | 20 | 30 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 21 | 28 | 18 | 8th | 49 |
| 2013/2014 | 36 | 7 | 15 | 14 | 42 | 55 | 36 | 16th | 4 | 9 | 5 | 23 | 25 | 21 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 19 | 30 | 15 | 17th | 36 |
| 2014/2015 | 36 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 34 | 47 | 41 | 13th | 6 | 4 | 8 | 21 | 26 | 22 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 21 | 19 | 13th | 44 |
| 2015/2016 | 36 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 32 | 46 | 41 | 13th | 6 | 4 | 8 | 19 | 25 | 22 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 21 | 19 | 14th | 43 |
| 2016/2017 | 36 | 12 | 9 | 15 | 41 | 46 | 45 | 8th | 9 | 2 | 8 | 27 | 22 | 29 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 24 | 16 | 10th | 45 |
| 2017/2018 | 36 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 30 | 54 | 28 | 20th | 2 | 9 | 7 | 20 | 29 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 25 | 13 | ||
| Comparison of Equivalent Fixtures^ | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| 2016/2017 | 36 | 11 | 8 | 17 | 41 | 50 | 41 |
| 2016/2017 Results | Hull City (A) | D | 1-1 | ||||
| Tottenham Hotspur (H) | D | 1-1 | |||||
Results
| 2002/2003 | 26/04/2003 | Liverpool (H) | L | 0-6 | |
| 2004/2005 | 02/05/2005 | Arsenal (H) | L | 0-2 | |
| 2005/2006 | 22/04/2006 | Newcastle United (A) | L | 0-3 | |
| 2008/2009 | 09/05/2009 | Wigan Athletic (H) | W | 3-1 | Fortuné (2), Brunt |
| 2010/2011 | 08/05/2011 | Wolverhampton Wanderers (A) | L | 1-3 | Odemwingie |
| 2011/2012 | 28/04/2012 | Aston Villa (H) | D | 0-0 | |
| 2012/2013 | 07/05/2013 | Manchester City (A) | L | 0-1 | |
| 2013/2014 | 04/05/2014 | Arsenal (A) | L | 0-1 | |
| 2014/2015 | 09/05/2015 | Newcastle United (A) | D | 1-1 | Anichebe |
| 2015/2016 | 30/04/2016 | West Ham United (H) | L | 0-3 | |
| 2016/2017 | 12/05/2017 | Chelsea (H) | L | 0-1 | |
| 2017/2018 | 28/04/2018 | Newcastle United (A) | W | 1-0 | Phillips |
Next Matches
| 2002/2003 | 03/05/2003 | Blackburn Rovers (A) | D | 1-1 | Koumas |
| 2004/2005 | 07/05/2005 | Manchester United (A) | D | 1-1 | Earnshaw (pen) |
| 2005/2006 | 01/05/2006 | West Ham United (H) | L | 0-1 | |
| 2008/2009 | 17/05/2009 | Liverpool (H) | L | 0-2 | |
| 2010/2011 | 14/05/2011 | Everton (H) | W | 1-0 | Mulumbu |
| 2011/2012 | 06/05/2012 | Bolton Wanderers (A) | D | 2-2 | Brunt, Morrison |
| 2012/2013 | 12/05/2013 | Norwich City (A) | L | 0-4 | |
| 2013/2014 | 07/05/2014 | Sunderland (A) | L | 0-2 | |
| 2014/2015 | 18/05/2015 | Chelsea (H) | W | 3-0 | Berahino (2, 1 pen), Brunt |
| 2015/2016 | 07/05/2016 | AFC Bournemouth (A) | D | 1-1 | Rondón |
| 2016/2017 | 16/05/2017 | Manchester City (A) | L | 1-3 | Robson-Kanu |
| 2017/2018 | 05/05/2018 | Tottenham Hotspur (H) |
* Positions are recorded as Albion’s position in the Premier League table after all fixtures for that day have been completed.
^ Fixtures against promoted clubs are compared against fixtures against the relegated clubs from last season with the club finishing 1st in the Championship compared against the club finishing 18th in the Premier League, 2nd compared with 19th and the play-off winners compared against the club who finished bottom.
