- Hegazy grabs winner on debut
- Bournemouth fail to create chances
- Set pieces again fruitful for West Brom
West Bromwich Albion beat Bournemouth 1-0 at the Hawthorns on Saturday to get their season off to a flying start.
The Baggies impressed early on and took the lead through Ahmed Hegazy’s header which turned out to be the winner.
Bournemouth struggled throughout and West Brom and Tony Pulis were the deserved winners on opening day.
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New West Brom striker Jay Rodriguez smashed an early effort in on goal which Bournemouth’s new goalkeeper Asmir Begovic saved superbly to deny the hosts a lead.
West Brom went close with a header at the back post as they looked more dangerous with Bournemouth having more possession but failing to do much with it.
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Rodriguez then curled an effort inches wide of the far post with Begovic beaten as the Baggies continued to push for the opener.
West Brom deservedly took the lead just after the half hour mark as Chris Brunt’s inswinging free kick from the right found Hegazy at the back post and the Egyptian defender headed home superbly on his Premier League debut.
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West Brom continued their dominance from set pieces in the second half as Claudio Yacob headed into the side-netting.
Bournemouth chased an equalizer by bringing on Jermain Defoe for his second Cherries debut and the former Sunderland striker was warmly applauded by both sets of fans.
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Nathan Ake made a great last-ditch tackle after Bournemouth were caught out at the back and despite Defoe looking lively on the break, West Brom held on for the three points on opening day.