West Bromwich Albion and Nottingham Forest faced each other at the Hawthorns on Tuesday night with the home team looking to overcome a pretty poor patch of form against recently rallied Martin O’Neill’s Forest side.

The first-half was dominated by the visitors, who looked like a new team under former Ireland boss Martin O’Neill, and Roy Keane, and their efforts were duly rewarded when a nicely conducted moved was luckily dispatched by Ryan Yates, whose wayward shot deflected into the back of the net via West Brom’s Stefan Johansen.

Forest headed into the break deserved leaders.

With the prospect of losing their grip on the top three, the home side headed into the second half with far more conviction than the first. A nicely struck volley by Rekeem Harper in the 54th minute, which bounced off the crossbar, was followed up by Jacob Murphy who tapped home his first for the club and the West Brom’s vital equaliser.

Their forward efforts were quickly negated however, following another Ryan Yates’ contribution. 2-1 to the visitors.

The three points looked all but secure until a pinch of last-minute controversy helped the Baggies secure a much-needed lifeline through a Jay Rodriguez penalty.

2-2 final score as the spoils were shared in what was a thrilling game.

Indeed, special credit should be given to Rodriguez who, above anyone else, looked most certain to make an impact on the day. The pressure of the penalty in the dying moments of the game could have gotten the better of any player, but he was calm and composed and executed it well.

West Brom fans will be concerned with the general performance of their players, however, with most turning out fairly abysmal ratings for their lacklustre efforts in both defensive and offensive play (ratings via Birmingham Live).

No one player truly deserved this award – Rodriguez was just the best of a bad bunch.