West Brom 1 Bolton 2: Yanic Wildschut squeezes home late winner as Darren Moore’s men begin Championship life with defeat
Norwich loan signing Wildschut pounces late to secure Bolton victory after Harvey Barnes had cancelled out Josh Magennis' early opener on the stroke of half-time
YANIC WILDSCHUT delivered a ‘Welcome to the Championship’ message to West Brom with a last-gasp winner on his debut.
The on-loan Norwich forward stunned the Baggies with his 89th-minute decider.
Skipper David Wheater nodded down Josh Vela’s header and Wildschut did the rest to seal Bolton’s first away win in nine months.
West Brom had dominated possession and on-loan Leicester winger Harvey Barnes scored a stunner to cancel out Josh Magennis’ opener.
Victory was the perfect tonic for the visitors, who came within seconds of being relegated to League One in May and have been rocked by a summer players’ strike over non-payment of bonuses.
But for Albion — who are the bookies’ joint-second favourites for promotion — it was a stark warning of the battles ahead if hopes of a quick-fire return to the Premier League are to be realised.
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Defensively, Darren Moore’s side looked all over the place.
Bolton boss Phil Parkinson said: “I thought we were excellent. We set ourselves out in a very disciplined way and everyone did their job for the team.
“We got the goal in the first half and had other chances.
“I was worried their goal might knock us and lift West Brom and we spoke about that at half-time.
“But our boys kept going and got their rewards in the end with a terrific finish from Yanic Wildschut.
“We always fancied we could give them problems and we stressed to the lads that we are not coming here to sit back and soak up pressure.
“When we attacked, we looked dangerous.”
Albion have had to deal with key players Craig Dawson and Salomon Rondon — who is a target for Newcastle — wanting to quit The Hawthorns.
Parkinson added: “We knew they had a bit of disruption in pre-season and players wanting to go. Darren’s preparation probably hasn’t been as smooth as he would have liked.
“He is probably looking forward to the transfer window shutting because it is difficult working with a team and there are players maybe going.”
Moore, who would not comment on Rondon’s future, had no complaints about Bolton’s defensive approach.
He even admitted the Baggies’ success in recent years had been built on the same method.
Moore said: “Take nothing away from Bolton because we built our success on playing like that.
“When teams come here and play that system, it is difficult.
“They had a game plan and there is nothing wrong with that. We’ve got to find ways of breaking that down in the future. The possession was there and the quality but it is getting the know-how right to break that down.
“The disappointing thing for us was conceding from two set-plays.”
Moore was given the Albion job full-time after taking 11 points from their final six games of last season while caretaker-manager.
Midfielder Barnes, 20, caused problems early on and forced Ben Alnwick into a save after bursting into the area.
But Bolton stunned the home side after their bright start by going ahead through Magennis after 18 minutes.
The Northern Ireland international became Bolton’s first cash signing for 3½ years in a £500,000 summer deal from Charlton. And the 27-year-old striker quickly repaid a slice of that modest sum.
Former Newcastle midfielder Sammy Ameobi looked to be blocked by the byline but managed to send over a teasing cross.
And Magennis did the rest with a header into the corner of the net.
Albion looked wobbly in the centre of their defence and were almost caught out again as keeper Sam Johnstone clung on to a header from Wanderers captain Wheater.
Defender Allan Nyom drilled a low effort just wide but Bolton comfortably dealt with anything the Baggies threw at them in the first 45 minutes.
But then starlet Barnes, 20, took centre stage in time added on. He cut inside from the right flank, played a one-two with Nyom, and curled a 25-yarder beyond the despairing dive of Alnwick into the roof of the net.
Barnes had another opportunity early in the second half but Mark Beevers made a crucial block of his goal-bound effort inside the area.
The Baggies went for the kill and Alnwick finger-tipped Ahmed Hegazi’s header over the bar.
And they breathed a sigh of relief after a reflex save from former Manchester United keeper Johnstone kept out Magennis’ point-blank header.
But the visitors were not to be denied and Wildschut struck in the first minute of injury time.