.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
West Brom edge Peterborough in penalty shootout to advance
Peterborough United took West Bromwich Albion to penalties in their fourth round FA Cup replay Wednesday, but could not succeed in the shootout. Ben Foster made two key saves to give WBA the win 1-1 (4-3) on kicks and advance to the fifth round and a date with Reading on February 20.
Lee Angol and Martin Samuelsen both saw their kicks saved at London Road in what was a cruel ending for the “Posh,” as they had outplayed the Premier League big boys for the majority of the game. Samuelsen, who was the player of the game, put his attempt right down the gut for Foster to save – but was bailed out momentarily when Darren Fletcher missed the entire net on his ensuing take. But Angol, who had to score to keep the shootout alive, looked exceptionally nervous and put a very poor shot right to Foster to concede the tie.
Posh got off on the front foot, with 18-year-old West Ham loanee Samuelsen steering much of the play for the League One side, an energetic and harassing presence in the middle of the field that left WBA chasing shadows. Angol tested Ben Foster early, with James McClean making a brave saving block after only four minutes; Harry Beautyman was then slid through by Samuelsen but could not get a clean strike off, leaving an easy take for Foster.
WBA offered very little in response, with Saido Berahino and Jose Rondon misfiring up top, and Albion in general playing eight men behind the ball at all times. It was a curious site seeing a side 36 places lower in the table bossing matters, but West Brom are a curiously sterile side under Pulis, forever moving backward when others might attack.
James Chester drew ironic cheers just before the interval when, all alone at the near post on a corner, he conspired to whip the ball across the face of goal when he was trying to put it on frame. Pulis stormed and stomped on the sideline, with the countenance of a school teacher about to cuff a pupil round the backside.
After the break, the Posh, fittingly, struck first. Jon Taylor, the man who scored late to force this replay in the first place, collected the ball out wide left in the 55th, and with Jonas Olsson and James Chester in retreat, blew the ball through Ben Foster to score. Olsson and Foster promptly got into a heated argument over which man looked more foolish on the play. The answer was: both.
It looked like Posh would take the tie home until a truly fine goal changed the affair. Fletcher was in a glorious position atop the box when Stephane Sessegnon’s cross was whipped back by Christopher Forrester – but only as far as the Scot. Fletcher took the ball on the half-volley and buried it top corner while keeper Ben Alnwick was left rooted.
Berahino had a chance to win the match in regulation, when Alnwick made a dreadful clearance giving the Albion forward an empty net to shoot at with three minutes to play, but Michael Bostwick was able to get back and hack the ball off his line.
Little happened in added time as the game became increasingly stretched, but sub Marcus Maddison nearly left Foster blushing with a chip as the keeper scrambled back that only found the roof of the net. Saido Berahino nearly nicked one at the death with a stooped header – that unfortunately was nowhere close to being on frame.
