West Midlands Football Review: A difficult weekend for the region

Premier League and Championship football returned after the international break, but it was a poor showing from the West Midlands sides.

There were only two wins to be found from teams in the region, with no fewer than five teams falling to defeat. However, there was a win for Walsall during the break as they came from behind to beat Salford City.

In the Premier League, Aston Villa continued their promising start to the season with a dramatic late win over Crystal Palace. They fell behind early in the second half, but a screamer from Jhon Duran right at the end of normal time pulled them level. Douglas Luiz scored a somewhat dubious penalty deep in injury time before Leon Bailey struck to seal the win for Villa.

Elsewhere in the top flight, Wolves slipped to their fourth defeat in five games by losing at home to Liverpool. Hwang Hee-chan continued his good recent form by giving Wolves an early lead, but three second-half goals from Liverpool, including a late Hugo Bueno own goal, was enough to secure the points for Jurgen Klopp’s side.

Moving into the Championship, Birmingham City suffered their first defeat of the season with an agonising late defeat to Watford. Lee Buchanan’s late red card was followed up by goals in the 91st and 96th minutes for The Hornets to send Blues home empty-handed.

Coventry City were also on the wrong end of late dramatics as they fell victim to a last-gasp equaliser from Hull City. The Sky Blues led for most of the match after Joel Latibeaudiere’s first-half goal, but Aaron Connolly popped up with an 87th-minute equaliser to deny Mark Robins’ side the win.

Stoke City continued their iffy recent form with a defeat away to Alex Neil’s former side Norwich City. Former Bournemouth man Jack Stacey popped up with the only goal of the game on the stroke of half-time to make it three defeats in a row for Stoke.

Finally, West Brom played out a thoroughly uneventful goalless draw with Bristol City to wrap up the action for the second tier. There was late controversy, however, as Albion were denied what seemed to be a stonewall penalty, but nothing was given.

In League One, Port Vale continued their stunning winning streak by beating Northampton Town at home. Ben Garrity grabbed the only goal of the game deep into the second half as Vale made it six wins in a row in all competitions.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Shrewsbury Town made it three defeats in their last four in all competitions with a loss to Bristol Rovers. Goals from John Marquis and Aaron Collins gave Rovers the win as Salop continued to settle in midtable.

Finally, Walsall had an unhappy reunion with former manager Michael Flynn as they fell to defeat away to Swindon Town. Charlie Austin opened the scoring in just the second minute, with Rushian Hepburn-Murphy securing the win late on.

Tables

In the Premier League, Villa continue to stay in touch with the top six as they stay in seventh. Meanwhile, Wolves remain in 15th, two points outside of the relegation zone.

Birmingham have fallen slightly in the Championship but remain in the Play-Off spots as they move down to sixth. West Brom and Coventry are both firmly in midtable, sitting in 13th and 15th respectively, while Stoke may be looking over their shoulder as they slipped to 19th.

Port Vale have shot up to second in League One, only being denied the top spot by their inferior goal difference. Shrewsbury on the other hand, sit in 15th.

Finally, Walsall have fell five places in League Two as they slipped to 14th in the league. However, they could be joined in the basement division by Solihull Moors, who have risen to second in the National League.