West Bromwich Albion secured a comfortable 2-0 victory over Bristol City at The Hawthorns on Sunday, but manager Carlos Corberan was left fuming about the team’s hectic Christmas schedule. Mikey Johnston scored twice in the first half to seal the win, but Corberan’s attention was focused on the fixture list, which sees his team play five matches in just 14 days.
Corberan questioned the fairness of the schedule, pointing out that Derby County, their next opponents, had an extra two days’ rest after playing on Friday night. “It’s a physical disadvantage, it’s madness,” he said. “Playing against a team at this time of the season who have had two days’ more recovery is unfair.”
Corberan also expressed frustration that West Brom were scheduled to play on Sunday, rather than Saturday like many other Championship teams. “We shouldn’t have played today, knowing the games coming up,” he said. “We should have played Saturday.”
Despite his concerns, Corberan was pleased with his team’s performance, particularly Johnston, who scored his first significant goals since joining from Celtic in the summer. “It’s important for him to score the goal, because it’ll help him to keep growing as a player,” Corberan said.
Bristol City manager Liam Manning, meanwhile, was left to ponder his team’s fourth consecutive winless match. “The better team definitely won, they were better than us,” he conceded. Manning identified defensive lapses and slow transitions as key issues, and urged his team to respond quickly. “We need to respond on Boxing Day now,” he said. “We need to win more games, it’s as simple as that.”