West Brom 1 Sunderland 0
Aug 21 2010 By Phil Medlicott, Press Association Sport
Peter Odemwingie scored a late goal on his debut to give West Brom all three Barclays Premier League points against Sunderland at the Hawthorns.
Odemwingie, whose transfer from Lokomotiv Moscow had only been confirmed 24 hours earlier, wasted little time in making a name for himself at his new club, taking on James Morrison's pass and slotting home the winner with nine minutes to go.
The victory marked a spirited response from the Baggies, who had started the day bottom of the Barclays Premier League table after they were thrashed 6-0 at Chelsea last week.
Having received international clearance to play, Nigeria forward Odemwingie was straight in the thick of the action, latching onto Chris Brunt's measured through-ball in the eighth minute and shooting narrowly wide.
Albion continued to press forward, with Morrison chesting down a failed clearance and sending a volley wide of goal.
At the other end Darren Bent, wearing the captain's armband in the suspended Lee Cattermole's absence, looked to have beaten the offside trap, only for the referee's assistant to raise his flag as the England striker fired at Scott Carson.
Sunderland then won a free-kick just outside the box, but former Baggies man Kieran Richardson could only curl it over the bar.
Albion responded with Morrison breaking down the right, beating two men and delivering a cross that was just too high for Brunt.
The hosts' passing game was starting to come together and Jerome Thomas' cross just before the half-hour mark found Brunt, who couldn't get a shot away but teed up a rather wild effort from Marek Cech.
Soon after, Albion supporters cried out for a penalty when they felt Jordan Henderson had handled inside the box, but referee Kevin Friend waved play on.
The Baggies kept up the tempo and Thomas almost made the most of an error of judgment by Simon Mignolet by rounding the Black Cats keeper near the byline, but there was no-one in the middle for him to pass to.
Cech then sent in a cross that Brunt met with an acrobatic but off-target attempt.
