West Bromwich Albion moved back to the top of the EFL Championship with a comfortable 2-0 win away to managerless Stoke City on Monday night.
Slaven Bilic’s side could have been ahead even before Matt Phillips’s opener inside eight minutes.
On-loan Grady Diangana supplied the tap in for the winger as West Brom dominated the opening proceedings.
The West Midlands club did take their foot off the accelerator towards the end of the first half but struggling Stoke failed to cause too many problems for Sam Johnstone in the visitors’ goal.
Substitute Hal Robson-Kanu sealed the three points midway through the second half from the penalty spot, six minutes after replacing Charlie Austin.
The Baggies were awarded a penalty when defender Cameron Carter-Vickers wiped out Diangana in the penalty area.
Victory moves Bilic’s side two points ahead of Preston North End, Leeds United and Swansea City all directly below them.
Meanwhile, Stoke prop up the Championship table with only eight points from their first 15 games. The Potters dismissed manager Nathan Jones on Friday night after less than 10 months in charge.
Whoever becomes the next Stoke manager will inherit a talented squad on paper, but one that hasn’t performed for a season-and-a-quarter since being relegated from the Premier League. They finished 16th last season.
Stoke are six points behind Luton Town, who sit directly above the relegation zone.
