West Brom failed to follow up their 1-0 win over Hull City in midweek with another victory against Middlesbrough today, with Valerien Ismael side needing to rescue a 1-1 draw at The Hawthorns through a second-half equalising goal from Grady Diangana.
Despite the overall disappointing result, one player who we feel was a big positive for the Baggies, arguably even more so than the former West Ham winger, was Kyle Bartley, who proved to be something of a hero for his manager this afternoon.
After coming on in the 19th minute to replace the injured Matt Clarke, the defender saw out the rest of the game and not only set up Diangana’s goal but also made two tackles and two clearances and blocked one shot. Additionally, he won eight out of his 13 duels, showing how crucial he was for the Baggies in a defensive sense to stave off a home defeat.
Hailed by former Albion manager Sam Allardyce as being as “good leader” for the team last season, Bartley was also praised for his attacking prowess in the Birmingham Mail today, with Joseph Chapman writing that he was a “real aerial presence in the opposing box” and “gave Boro plenty to think about”.
Additionally, the 30-year-old – who is currently valued at £2.25m by Transfermarkt – racked up a passing accuracy percentage of 83% and an overall match rating of 7.4/10. That made him the highest-rated West Brom player on the day according to SofaScore, proving that Ismael made the right call in choosing him to replace Clarke.
Were you impressed with Bartley’s performance vs Middlesbrough?
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So far this season, Bartley has played in all but one of West Brom’s 17 league games, starting 15 of them, showing how important he is for the team.
Moving forward, we feel that his performance against Middlesbrough has certainly put him in the running to start in West Brom’s next Championship game against Huddersfield Town later this month to see if he can replicate today’s performance when the Baggies travel to Yorkshire.
In other news: Steve Madeley drops West Brom transfer claim which will leave Baggies fans fuming