Here is the reaction of the two managers.
Roberto Martinez
It was a very difficult game and it might not have been pretty, but it was three valuable points. We put in a big effort on Wednesday night and we knew West Brom were going to come here and make it hard for us.
In the first half, we had to play a very difficult role in keeping the ball and trying to break down a very disciplined outfit. They were very dangerous on the counter and their front two looked a real threat, so I felt it was the most demanding performance we've had to put together this season.
I am so proud that the players were able to find the answers, because we didn't have the control or the dominance we have had in recent weeks. But we got the three points we feel we deserved and that is a massive step forward for us.
There wasn't a great deal of space in that first half, and we certain players who are able to play in such short spaces, where they can use their football brains. The second half was always going to be completely different, play was going to open up, and we're fortunate we have players like Victor Moses and Charles N'Zogbia who can take advantage of that.
Victor came on and showed that he is ready to help us win football matches and that raw talent that anyone would enjoy watching. He is a very young man but he is very capable and although he has had a very stop-start season he is always ready to go.
His standards on a daily basis have been superb and he has been growing behind the scenes. In the second half he showed how ready he is. Tom (Cleverley) is physically very, very strong and had a very good understanding of the game.
He can play in a couple of positions which is always an added bonus and he is another very exciting talent. I just felt that today's was a performance where everyone had to be at 100 per cent and had to stay concentrated for the whole 90 minutes.
In that respect, we were perfect. You have to find a way of creating chances without leaving yourself too exposed at the back.
You can see why West Brom have got so many good results away from home, but I was extremely pleased with how we coped with the threat. We managed to create three good chances, we took one of them, and three very deserved points.
With a minute or so, you have everything to lose and nothing to gain, and West Brom were taking a lot of risks and throwing everything in after we went ahead.
For 70 minutes, we were the team who wanted to find the answers and West Brom were content to play on the counter. At the end, the roles changed a little bit, we had to be as bit more defensive and they threw everything at us.
They have great quality in their delivery, real power at set-pieces and we had to be very focused on our jobs. But we held firm at the end and that pleases me more than anything.
Roberto Di Matteo
A draw would probably have been the right result but it was a bad result as they are one of our competitors.
It was a good break for them and they did really well to score that goal. We could have defended the first ball better but we had them three versus two so they scored a good goal.
You could see today that the players lacked sharpness and it has been a hard, tough week and we haven't been able to change many of the players because of who's available.
But we have no complaints, the effort of the players was good and it's a shame we lost.
The table
| Latest match Saturday, 13th November 2010 |
Pld | Home | Away | Overall | Pts | GD | |||||||||||||||||
| W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | |||||||||
| 1 | Chelsea | 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 28 | 5 | 28 | +23 | ||||
| 2 | Manchester United | 13 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 26 | 15 | 25 | +11 | ||||
| 3 | Arsenal | 12 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 24 | 11 | 23 | +13 | ||||
| 4 | Manchester City | 13 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 10 | 22 | +5 | ||||
| 5 | Bolton Wanderers | 13 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 21 | 19 | 19 | +2 | ||||
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 13 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 17 | 19 | +1 | ||||
| 7 | Newcastle United | 13 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 21 | 16 | 18 | +5 | ||||
| 8 | Aston Villa | 13 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 18 | 17 | -3 | ||||
| 9 | Sunderland | 12 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 12 | 13 | 16 | -1 | ||||
| 10 | Stoke City | 13 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 15 | 18 | 16 | -3 | ||||
| 11 | Liverpool | 13 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 17 | 16 | -4 | ||||
| 12 | West Bromwich Albion | 13 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 16 | 22 | 16 | -6 | ||||
| 13 | Everton | 12 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 11 | 15 | +2 | ||||
| 14 | Blackburn Rovers | 13 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 18 | 15 | -3 | ||||
| 15 | Blackpool | 13 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 19 | 26 | 15 | -7 | ||||
| 16 | Fulham | 13 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 0 | ||||
| 17 | Wigan Athletic | 13 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 21 | 14 | -11 | ||||
| 18 | Birmingham City | 13 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 14 | 17 | 13 | -3 | ||||
| 19 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 13 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 23 | 9 | -10 | ||||
| 20 | West Ham United | 13 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 22 | 9 | -11 | ||||
Next game
Next up for the Latics is the difficult trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson's side have won five of their last seven whilst Tom Cleverley will have to sit this one out as per the terms of his loan deal.