West Bromwich Albion climb above Southampton with narrow win at St Mary's

West Bromwich Albion have battled from a goal down to beat Southampton 2-1 at St Mary's Stadium and climb above their opponents into eighth place in the Premier League table.

Shane Long had given the Saints the lead four minutes before half time, but they failed to hold on and Matt Phillips continued his impressive season by equalising prior to the break.

A first goal for the club for Wales international Hal Robson-Kanu, on what was his first start since joining at the start of the season, earned the points for Albion in the second half to put them back on the winning trail.

Following three defeats in their last four, West Brom battled well in the first half but neither side could create any killer opportunities in front of goal.

A couple of Sofiane Boufal attempts aside, it took until the 41st minute of the match before the first meaningful moment arrived - Long getting to the front post ahead of Fraser Forster to nod in Dusan Tadic's corner.

Just two minutes later it was the Baggies' turn to score from their own first shot on target, as Phillips slotted the ball inside the right post from 15 yards out after being spotted by full debutant Robson-Kanu.

Robson-Kanu then scored what proved to be the winner five minutes into the second half, blasting the ball into the top left-hand corner to put his side on their way to just a second win here in 22 attempts.

Forster was called into action on the hour to palm aside James Morrison's headed attempt, yet that proved to be it in terms of chances in a game of very few shots at either end - just four on target in all.

There was still time for Virgil van Dijk to pick up a red card late on for pulling down Solomon Rondon, however, piling further misery on manager Claude Puel.