Match Report: West Brom 3 PNE 0

Preston North End ended the 2023/24 Sky Bet Championship season on a negative note by succumbing to a 3-0 loss against West Bromwich Albion.

West Brom went ahead just before half-time with a penalty kick scored by Alex Mowatt in the second minute of added time.

In the second half of the game, West Brom scored two more goals with the help of Kyle Bartley and Darnell Furlong. With this win, they have secured a spot in the Play-Offs.

At the beginning of the game, Grady Diangana made the first attempt to score within two minutes. However, Freddie Woodman was able to block his shot. On the opposite side of the field, Andrew Hughes took a long-range shot that was deflected, helping Alex Palmer to save it.

The North End team displayed an energized performance as they played. In the seventeenth minute, a lengthy pass was made towards Riis to potentially give him a chance to score, but his handling took him wide beyond Palmer's reach. Consequently, his cross wasn't quite able to be controlled by Liam Millar.

The striker from Denmark had to be substituted shortly after taking an apparent hit to his spine, causing Milutin Osmajić to come in to play alongside Will Keane.

In the 35th minute, North End received some luck when Mowatt took a free-kick and Thomas-Asante headed it down, but his left-footed shot missed the goal from a close distance of six yards.

In the 38th minute, Woodman was required to produce an exceptional double-save to deny Mikey Johnston and Conor Townsend. However, it should be noted that the second attempt from Townsend was deemed offside.

Both teams were about to take a break on equal footing, but things changed when Liam Lindsay was accused of committing a foul against Furlong. As a result, Mowatt stepped forward and deceived Woodman with his penalty kick.

During the second half, West Brom had a great opportunity to increase their lead. However, Cedric Kipré missed a chance to score a goal from an unguarded position six yards away from the goalpost, when he hit the ball over the crossbar on a corner kick.

After being set up by Johnston on the left, Thomas-Asante had a chance in the 58th minute, which some may argue was better than his previous one. However, despite being close to the goal, the striker missed the opportunity and sent the ball over.

The team had another objective, which was to score a second goal. Eventually, they achieved it through a throw-in by Furlong that was followed by a header from Bartley, sending the ball over Woodman and into the goal.

In the 68th minute, Townsend went into the box and passed the ball back to Furlong, who simply tapped it into the open net for the third goal for the Baggies.

During the second half, North End didn't have many chances to score. In the 79th minute, Will Keane had an opportunity to score from Browne's free-kick, but unfortunately, his header missed the target and went wide.

The West Brom team sheet showed Palmer as the goalkeeper, along with Furlong, Bartley, Kipré, and Townsend as defenders. In midfield, Yokuşlu started but was replaced by M’Vila later on. Mowatt also lined up in the middle. Fellows began as a forward but was substituted for Wallace. Meanwhile, Diangana played in the winger position but was replaced by Phillips towards the end of the match. Johnston started on the opposite wing but was later replaced by Swift. Finally, Thomas-Asante played as a striker but was later replaced by Maja. The unused substitutes were Griffiths, Ajayi, Chalobah, and Reach.

Here's another way to write the blog section using different terms: The PNE starting team included Woodman as goalkeeper, and Storey, Lindsay, and Hughes as defenders. Browne, Whatmough, Holmes, and Millar were midfielders, while Frøkjær and Keane served as forwards. During the game, Riis had to be replaced by Osmajić due to an injury sustained at the 29th minute mark. Later, Seary and Stewart were brought in to replace Holmes and Frøkjær respectively. Best and Evans also played as substitutes in the last few minutes of the game. Cornell, Brady, T.Mawene, and N.Mawene were present on the bench as unused substitutes.

Number of people attending: To be confirmed. However, 1,266 supporters of PNE were present.

Match official: Mr S Martin.