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West Bromwich Albion 2-3 Chelsea: Pedro bags a goal, assist on his Premier League debut

NBC Sports

  • Pedro Rodriguez notched a goal and an assist on his Chelsea debut

  • West Brom scored their first goal of the 2015-16 Premier League season

  • With their victory, Chelsea climb nine places in the league table, now up to 9th

  • With the defeat, West Brom slip from 19th to 20th

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West Brom were on cloud nine early on, if only momentarily, when Nemanja Matic took down Callum McManaman inside the Chelsea penalty area in the 13th minute. Up stepped James Morrison for the Baggies, but the Scottish international hit his penalty straight down the middle and knee-high, which allowed Thibaut Courtois to make the save with his trailing leg.

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Morrison and West Brom were made to pay for squandering their early chance not even seven minutes later, when Pedro Rodriguez scored his first Chelsea goal to put the Blues into the lead. The former Barcelona winger combined brilliantly through the right attacking channel with Eden Hazard, which led to a quick shot that snuck inside Boaz Myhill‘s left-hand post from the edge of the penalty area.

Chelsea doubled their lead in the 30th minute, when Diego Costa turned home Pedro’s wayward shot at the back post. After a quick counter attack that flowed through Willian and Pedro, the Spaniard unleashed a shot from a tough angle on the left. With that effort going well wide of the far post, Costa snuck in, cleaned up the scraps and nabbed his first goal of the 2015-16 season.

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Morrison redeemed his earlier miss from essentially the same spot on the field, only through open play, to cap off a free-flowing bit of attacking play by the Baggies. James McClean crossed from the left, to the back post where Salomon Rondon kept the play alive and centered the ball with an overhead kick. Morrison came rushing in near the penalty spot and this time hammered the ball hard, low and through a sea defenders in the 35th minute.

Cesar Azpilicueta restored Chelsea’s two-goal lead just before halftime (42nd minute) with a simple finish from the top of the penalty area. Cesc Fabregas played a ball over the top, Costa chested it down into the path of Azpilicueta and the Spaniard finished low into the left corner.

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John Terry was sent off in the 54th minute for denying Rondon an obvious goalscoring opportunity, meaning the Blues were to finish the game with 10 men. Five minutes later, West Brom made good on their newfound advantage, when Morrison’s flicked-on header looped its way to the far post and snuck just under Courtois’s crossbar.