Baggies batter below-par Burnley

West Bromwich Albion have moved up to ninth place in the Premier League table after they hammered Burnley 4-0 at The Hawthorns.

Tony Pulis’s side had won at Leicester City last weekend and, having won none of their previous five games, built on that great result by blowing the Clarets away in the first half.

Burnley had only earned one point from their first five away league matches – a backs-to-the-wall point at Old Trafford – and their display at West Brom highlighted their inadequacies on the road to-date.

A defensive mistake gifted Matt Phillips the first goal in the opening minutes before the impressive James Morrison doubled their lead inside the first quarter hour.

Darren Fletcher capitalised on good work from Phillips to make it three at the break before Salomon Rondon got his reward for an outstanding performance with the fourth on 63 minutes.

Jeff Hendrick had wasted Burnley’s best chance when they trailed by just the one goal but in truth even a consolation goal would have been more than they deserved.

Sean Dyche's side remain in 11th position and have yet to figure out a system which can bring them results away from Turf Moor; discovering one will be key to their chances of avoiding a relegation battle.

West Brom and Pulis won't care though as they enter the top half, six points and nine teams clear of the drop zone.

Phillips was gifted the opening goal inside four minutes when Morrison's low cross was stabbed towards his own goal by the sliding Dean Marney and Phillips pounced on the opportunity, spinning and rifling home from six yards.

The hosts threatened every time they attacked but Burney should have drawn level on 13 minutes when Sam Vokes' header from a set-piece fell to Hendrick unmarked inside the box but the Ireland international’s effort was unconvincing and went well wide of the far post.

The visitors were made to pay moments later when Rondon held off his marker before feeding Morrison and the Scot guided a lovely shot from the edge of the box into the back of the net.

Tom Heaton, who perhaps could have done better with Morrison’s strike, almost gifted the same player a third goal, sending a pass under pressure from Rondon to Morrison but the midfielder sliced his effort wide.

Rondon almost made it four on the half-hour mark but the Venezualan’s powerful strike went just over the crossbar; shortly after Heaton pulled off a fabulous save from the big striker, tipping away his cracking strike which seemed destined for the top corner.

The game was ended as a contest when Fletcher arrived on time to finish Phillips’ inch-perfect cross.

Dyche introduced forward Ashley Barnes for midfielder at the break in an attempt to somehow get back into the game and they briefly rallied but Rondon killed any lingering chance of an unlikely comeback, collecting Nyom's low cross before turning and shooting low into the net with a couple of small deflections helping it past Heaton.

The rest of the game was just about damage limitation for Burnley while West Brom enjoyed their rare stroll through the end of a top flight match.

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