ANDREW Cole saw red and City were left singing the Blues as they crashed back to earth from last week's 5-2 win over Charlton with a horror show performance in a fractious game against West Brom at the Hawthorns.

A final 15 minutes, with City already 2-0 down, saw the Blues' already questionable discipline on the day go completely to pot, with Cole crashing through Diomansy Kamara to earn his second booking in the space of a few minutes.

Ben Thatcher was lucky not to have been waiting for Cole in the dressing room after some crunching tackles and a first-half clash with Kamara that video replays suggested had seen him landing a forearm on the Baggies striker's jaw.

City turned in perhaps their worst performance since Stuart Pearce took over, and the Blues manager looked furious - not just with Cole but with the performance of his side across the board.

Things started badly for the Blues after Kamara gave West Brow a fifth minute lead, then a tactical substitution by Pearce backfired after Paul Robinson's run to the byline exposed Sun Jihai, with his precise cross into the six-yard box headed home by Kevin Campbell.

Warning

After his side had belted five past Charlton last weekend, City boss Stuart Pearce must have been dreadfully disappointed at the sluggish start they made to this encounter.

The visitors had already been given one early warning when David James needed to make a smart save at the near post to deny Kamara. The lessons were clearly not heeded though West Brom took the lead on their next attack.

Thatcher endured a miserable first half hour and the low point was undoubtedly when Kamara latched onto Junichi Inamoto’s crossfield pass and chipped the ball into open space beyond the full-back.
The move caught Thatcher completely flat-footed and Kamara simply sped past before driving an excellent shot into the corner beyond James’ grasp.

Thatcher’s life did not get any easier as he continued to be terrorised by Kamara. The Senegalese star was only denied a second by a smart piece of reaction keeping by James, who flew out to palm the ball away from danger after Richard Dunne had been exposed.

Nathan Ellington also drove a snap-shot over after Kamara and Kanu had combined, although it proved to be the only action worthy of note for the striker, who limped off eight minutes before the break.

By that time, Thatcher’s forearm had made an imprint on Kamara’s chin in a ferocious touchline clash. Referee Dean could not have seen the incident properly as he waved play on but Baggies boss Bryan Robson was not too impressed - and more importantly, neither was Kamara, who gave Thatcher a wide berth for the rest of the half.

With Ronnie Wallwork also testing James’ reflexes, the goalmouth action was almost exclusively centred around the City area.

Joey Barton did his best to instil some life into the visitors but other than a mis-hit Trevor Sinclair volley and a Barton shot Tomasz Kuszczak gathered at the first attempt, they posed no threat.

Bitter-sweet

It must have been a bitter-sweet opening 45 minutes for Kuszczak. Preferred to fit-again England man Chris Kirkland, the Pole must have wanted more opportunity to impress while at the same time happy to be part of a side so much on top.

All that nearly changed not long after the re-start, though, when Inamoto was caught in possession close to his own box.

Sinclair’s shot took a couple of deflections before rolling nicely into Cole’s path. The former England man had time to take aim with his angled drive but blazed his shot wide when much better was expected.

It was the last opportunity City would have before the Baggies extended their lead, although the hosts’ second did not arrive until the hour mark.
As it turned out, the goal came immediately after Pearce had introduced Stephen Ireland for David Sommeil, a move which saw Sun Jihai switched to the right-back role.

The China international was still attempting to adjust to his new surroundings when Robinson sprinted to the by-line and cut an excellent cross back which invited Campbell’s firm header into the top corner.

After enjoying such an encouraging season so far, City slid to defeat in a disappointingly meek fashion.

Barton did get involved in one touchline fracas with Wallwork, who was then accused of elbowing Ireland in an aerial duel. Dunne was booked, as was Cole before the veteran striker quickly saw red.

But as far as positive football was concerned, Pearce’s side produced nothing.

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