Ramsay’s West Brom clobbered 5-0 by Norwich
Norwich City delivered a devastating 5-0 blow to West Bromwich Albion yesterday afternoon, leaving the Baggies in a state of shock and deepening the pressure on new head coach Eric Ramsay. In just his second game in charge, Ramsay watched his side completely unravel in a second-half capitulation that marked the club’s heaviest second-tier defeat in over a quarter of a century.
Match recap
The match began in torrential rain, and it didn’t take long for the conditions to reflect Albion’s fortunes. Oscar Schwartau opened the scoring for the visitors in the 16th minute with a precise low drive into the bottom corner. While West Brom showed flashes of fight before the break—with Sam Iling-Junior hitting the woodwork—the second half was a total disaster for the hosts.
Norwich doubled their lead just four minutes after the restart through Ali Ahmed, and the floodgates opened from there. Anis Ben Slimane and Ben Chrisene added two more in quick succession midway through the half as the home crowd’s frustration boiled over. The humiliation was completed in stoppage time when Mathias Kvistgaarden tapped home a fifth, leaving West Brom just three points above the relegation zone.
Ramsay’s performance
The former Minnesota United manager has endured a “baptism of fire” in the Midlands, losing his first two matches at The Hawthorns and conceding eight goals in the process.
- Tactical struggles: Ramsay attempted to spark a comeback with a triple substitution at halftime, introducing Jed Wallace, Jayson Molumby, and Aune Heggebø, but the changes failed to stem the Norwich tide.
- Post-match reaction: A visibly shaken Ramsay insisted after the match that he is “not thinking about” the relegation scrap, urging his players to be humble and find a way to fix the team’s growing “fragility.”
- Pressure mounting: With eight defeats in their last ten matches across all competitions, Ramsay faces an immediate and massive task to galvanize a squad that appeared devoid of confidence during the second-half collapse.
Stats
- Record: 0W-0D-2L
- Goals For: 2
- Goals Against: 8
- League Position: 19th
- Gap to Drop Zone: 3 Points
