West Bromwich Albion 2-0 Preston North Finish: Okay Yokuslu double ignites resurgent Baggies

West Brom moved inside a degree of the Championship play-off spots as they brushed apart out-of-sorts Preston at The Hawthorns.

John Swift crashed a long-range shot in opposition to the bar inside two minutes of approaching as a second-half substitute because the hosts continued to threaten.

Swift then pounced as Preston coughed up possession outdoors their very own field and performed in Yokuslu, who fired in his second to wrap up a seventh win in eight matches.

The consequence takes Carlos Corberan’s report to seven wins and 6 clear sheets in 9 matches since changing Steve Bruce in October, a run which has lifted Albion from second-bottom to ninth.

The resurgent Baggies have been roared on to a fourth successive house win by a sold-out Hawthorns, and progressively got here to dominate the primary half, with solely the woodwork and an excellent Woodman maintaining them at bay.

Jed Wallace minimize into the field and guided a shot throughout Woodman in opposition to the far put up, and moments later compelled the Preston keeper into an acrobatic save at full-stretch with a curling long-range effort.

Woodman then caught out a proper hand to someway claw away Brandon Thomas-Asante’s highly effective close-range strike, after which pulled off a double-save from Wallace’s deflected effort and Thomas-Asante’s follow-up.

The dam lastly burst when Yokuslu beat the 25-year-old with a wise end, and by the point the Turkish midfielder doubled the lead with half-an-hour left, the Baggies seemed sure winners.

Preston arrived with the Championship’s second-best away report, with 21 factors from 11 outings, and nearly pulled one again when Alistair McCann’s flick got here again off the put up, however they have been properly crushed.

West Bromwich Albion head coach Carlos Corberan advised BBC Radio WM:

“I assumed the crew performed very well from the primary minute till the eightieth minute.

“The final 10 minutes we did not management the sport sufficient. We allowed them to take some free-kicks and set-pieces, which we had stopped for all the first 80 minutes, however I assumed the efficiency of the crew in assault and defence was excellent as we speak.

“It is clearly constructive when the opponent’s goalkeeper is the most effective participant as a result of it means the crew was creating many issues.”

Preston North Finish boss Ryan Lowe advised BBC Radio Lancashire:

“I assumed they [West Brom] have been excellent, however by way of them being excellent, we weren’t fairly at it with the ball or with out the ball.

“We had a spell within the first half the place we have been shifting the ball facet to facet and have been creating moments and getting the ball of their ultimate third, and within the second half we got here out and had a little bit rally.

“However you’ll be able to’t give a crew like that, who’re in kind, two golden alternatives, which we did.

“We knew it was going to be a troublesome night due to the shape they’re in, however we needed to be constructive and imagine we may get one thing out of it. Finally that wasn’t the case as a result of we gifted them two objectives.”