West Brom had hit the crossbar earlier in the half
Dwight Gayle opened the scoring in the Birmingham derby Championship playoff semi-final between West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday afternoon.
The match always promised to be a competitive if nervy encounter and that was the case from the off, with both sides signalling their intent to attack and play the game on the front foot.
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West Brom were the better side from the off in the first half, and they were unlucky not to score after 10 minutes, when only a stunning save by Villa goalkeeper Jed Steer prevented Jay Rodriguez from opening the scoring with a long-range shot.
Five minutes later Steer was unable to repeat his heroics, after a mistake by actual professional footballer Glenn Whelan saw Dwight Gayle gain possession of the ball deep inside the Villa half.
The former Crystal Palace man ran at speed between two Villa defenders and unleashed a rasping shot at goal. Steer got down quickly but was only able to get a fingertip on the ball as it nestled into the bottom corner.
