West Brom Forward Brown Ideye Opens Premier League Account In Loss To Manchester City

Super Eagles striker Brown Ideye finally broke his English Premier League goal drought as he was on target for West Bromwich Albion in the 3-1 home loss to Manchester City at the Hawthorns on Friday.

The record signing from Dynamo Kiev started the snow filled match from the bench, as Alan Irvine preferred Saibou Berahino as the lone man upfront.

Ideye who has been criticized by some sections of the media for his lack of goals looked sharp when he came on in the second half of the highly entertaining Boxing Day match.

The visitors were handed an early gift courtesy of Ben Foster, as the West Brom goalkeeper dropped a looping Jesus Navas cross eight minutes in.

Midfielder Fernando took full advantage to cleverly register his first goal for the club, with ex-City defender Joleon Lescott also aiding his former employers’ cause soon afterwards.

David Silva went down under Lescott’s challenge inside the area and, when Yaya Toure subsequently doubled City’s advantage from the penalty spot, they were well on course for a ninth consecutive win in all competitions.

Despite rarely getting out of first gear, the champions were three to the good 11 minutes before the interval when Silva calmly steered a strike past Foster.

An improved defensive effort from West Brom kept the score respectable after the break, and they finally got on the scoresheet themselves when Ideye turned the ball home after a scramble late on,  but it proved too little, too late for Irvine’s men.