English FA Premiership/West Brom 0 Arsenal 2: As if it were not galling enough to lose against a sluggish Arsenal, Bryan Robson will be even more pained by the prospect that West Bromwich Albion could be demoted at his beloved Manchester United on Saturday.
Having been undone by second-half goals from Robin van Persie and Edu, Albion will probably have to win at Old Trafford if Robson is not to suffer relegation at the stadium where he has had so many exhilarating highs.
He must be filled with dread already and the sympathetic reception that awaits him will be of little consolation if results go against his team.
They could not have put more into this performance but in attack they had chosen the peashooter as their form of weaponry. It was not until the 80th minute when Robson had more than one striker on the field and by then it was too little too late.
Their strategy last night was one of studied conservatism, deploying a five-man defence behind four industrious midfielders and a lone striker in Kevin Campbell. The idea was to prevent Arsène Wenger's team manoeuvring their elaborate patterns and for long spells it succeeded in thwarting a side that had not lost here since 1973.
Russell Hoult, the Albion goalkeeper, surely cannot have expected he would not be required to make a save worthy of the description until six minutes before the interval, when Lauren's incisive through-ball sent Van Persie scampering clear.
Arsenal's only other serious attempt in the opening half was a Patrick Vieira shot that curled over the bar.
Albion's problem was finding a penetrative edge. Though Campbell worked indefatigably against his old club, he was frequently left in isolated positions and consequently many of the home side's attacks petered out around the edge of the penalty area.
In first-half stoppage-time Ronnie Wallwork lashed a rare chance over the bar and, with Kieran Richardson displaying touches of maturity that have seldom been seen in his sporadic appearances for Manchester United, they began the second period in command.
Again, however, they struggled to work the ball behind Arsenal's back line. With the crowd imploring them forward, the best they could manage was a Paul Robinson shot that was blocked by Lauren on the six-yard line followed by a succession of corners.
After 66 minutes Vieira played the ball inside to Reyes who shuffled his feet and slid a weighted pass into van Persie.
The Dutch striker turned inside Neil Clement before beating Holt with a left-foot shot and in stoppage time the substitute Denis Bergkamp and Edu combined to secure a victory that all but confirms Arsenal as runners-up to Chelsea.
WEST BROM: Hoult, Gaardsoe, Moore, Clement, Albrechtsen (Earnshaw 80), Wallwork, Richardson, Robinson, Gera (Kanu 80), Campbell (Horsfield 80), Greening. Subs Not Used: Scimeca, Kuszczak.
ARSENAL: Lehmann, Lauren, Toure, Senderos, Cole, Fabregas (Bergkamp 74), Vieira, Silva, Pires, Van Persie (Edu 74), Reyes. Subs Not Used: Campbell, Almunia, Aliadiere.
Referee: N Barry
