Roy Hodgson hailed his battling Baggies after Albion became the first team this season to stop Manchester City scoring in the Premier League.
A resilient back-four marshalled brilliantly by Gareth McAuley and Billy Jones kept out City’s mega-bucks in a Boxing Day thriller at The Hawthorns.
Albion’s seventh point out of a possible nine was greeted by cheers from all four sides of The Hawthorns as the Baggies matched Mancini’s men and could’ve snatched all three points with Shane Long and Jerome Thomas going agonisingly close for the hosts.
But it was at the other end of the pitch where Albion excelled. Marshalled by the reliable Ben Foster, Nicky Shorey, Jonas Olsson, Gareth McAuley and Billy Jones were superb in defence.
The draw saw Albion move up to ninth in the league and delighted Albion’s master tactician Hodgson.
"You've got to be pleased with that," said the Baggies boss.
"Obviously, we knew the magnitude of the task.
"You're always hoping it will be made a bit easier by the opponents not being at their best.
"But we didn't get that.
"I thought Man City played well, although they didn't play as well as they have been playing and can play.
"So, we had to be at our best to try and keep them at bay.
"I thought it was a very disciplined and hard-working performance defensively and I thought the longer the game went on, we dealt with the ball a little bit better on the counter-attack.
"It was one of those games where I thought we deserved the point we got.
"We got it by playing in the right manner.
"We don't stop many sides scoring.
"We're not a great clean-sheet team, that's for sure.
"It was good to do it against a team of Man City's calibre.
"It's a bit concerning when you're the opposing head coach and you're watching people like Dzeko and Johnson come onto the field, and already you're dealing with Aguero and Balotelli.
"All of a sudden you think you're doing okay - and then Dzeko and Johnson come on to give you different problems!
"They do have a lot of riches at the moment. There is no question of that."
Were you as proud as Roy Hodgson after Albion's 0-0 draw? Have your say here at Baggies Banter.
Source: FOOTYMAD
