WBA -1 Aston Villa - 1: West Bromwich Albion gave their supporters good cause for optimism yesterday and Gary Megson an invaluable aid in his attempts to strengthen his squad before next week's transfer deadline.
Megson freely admits players are wary of signing for West Brom because they fear a season of struggle culminating in relegation. Hermann Hreidarsson, then of Ipswich Town, was a case in point when West Brom were last in the Premiership two seasons ago.
However, the video of this encounter, which showed Albion marrying flair with the determination that is the hallmark of teams fashioned by him, gives Megson a weapon to supplement his persuasive powers.
"This may help a couple of the players realise that joining us may not be a bad career move," he said. "All we can do is keep pushing and hope we can bring them in. One thing we will not do is chuck money away to get some players in. We've got to bring in better than what we've got."
That may be a big ask given Megson's most recent signings: Kanu, Jonathan Greening and Zoltan Gera.
Predictably Kanu wove spells that delighted the crowd and bamboozled Villa in equal measure. Moreover, his artist-meets-artisan partnership with the more physical Geoff Horsfield provided a succession of problems for Villa's central defenders Olof Mellberg and Martin Laursen.
Not far behind the Nigerian was the former Manchester United midfielder Greening but upstaging them both was one of Megson's longest-serving players, Neil Clement.
Signed as a full back from Chelsea, Clement not only dominated the midfield but nodded home Greening's free-kick to cancel out Mellberg's opener.
The set-piece that followed a challenge by Laursen on Horsfield was one of two decisions made by referee Mark Halsey disputed by Villa manager David O'Leary. And, even if he had agreed with the Hertfordshire official on that occasion, O'Leary reckoned Clement's goal should have been academic following an earlier incident.
Villa had been denied a second goal in what was a replay of Mellberg's fourth-minute header. Again the Swedish international outjumped the West Brom defence to nod home Thomas Hitzlsperger's left-wing corner but this time Paul Robinson hacked the ball clear even though it appeared to be over the line.
"I'd like to say what I really think but it's too expensive," fumed O'Leary. "If you keep getting very dubious decisions against you and the ball keeps going in the box, something's going to happen. But give my players credit. I think they would have lost that game 12 months ago. They've become more resilient away from home."
And they needed to be once West Brom had recovered from the shock of conceding an early goal. O'Leary, however, omitted to mention that his side required good fortune and profligacy in front of goal by the visitors to survive.
"We bossed the game for the last 70 minutes but didn't get our just desserts," Megson admitted. "Not through bad luck but because we didn't finish well enough. We had plenty of chances but didn't take them."
