Di Matteo relieved to take points

The Baggies were cruising at three up after 41 minutes but Posh reduced the deficit to one goal eight minutes after half-time and West Brom had to dig deep for their second win in three games. That 3-2 victory put them in with the leading bunch of teams on seven points on their return to the Championship. Di Matteo said: "It is a long season but better to get off to a good start. Every ground where we go is hostile and, even after taking a three-goal lead, we knew the game wasn't over at half-time. "In the end I was pleased with the way we held on as Peterborough tried very hard in the second half and we gave two easy goals away." Di Matteo's men were awesome in attack before the break and it took Luke Moore only three minutes to break the deadlock when Posh goalkeeper Joe Lewis allowed a powerful shot to squirm under his body. Then Welsh international defender Craig Morgan was left red-faced after Moore made the most of a simple opportunity to double Albion's lead 11 minutes before half-time when Morgan's atrocious clearance was pounced on by Chris Wood. Moore's threat was no surprise to Di Matteo, who continued: "We have seen him looking very sharp in training and it was just a matter of time before he made an impression." Moore's second goal ended a spell of home domination in which Craig Mackail-Smith struck an upright either side of Aaron Mclean seeing two efforts saved by Scott Carson in a goalmouth scramble. Mackail-Smith, making his 100th Posh appearance, also had a header ruled out for offside. Albion struck again four minutes before the break when Chris Brunt tapped home from point-blank range after Shaun Cummings flashed a low delivery across the face of goal. But if Albion thought the rest would be easy they were in for a surprise as Mackail-Smith headed past Carson in first-half stoppage-time after being picked out by Shaun Batt. Darren Ferguson's men maintained the momentum after the break and pulled back another one, with Mclean forcing in George Boyd's low 53rd-minute cross. Posh thought they were level when Mackail-Smith bundled the ball into the net only for Mclean to be penalised for a foul on Carson. Disappointed Posh boss Darren Ferguson, who has seen his promoted side take a solitary point so far, said: "We gave away three awful goals and there is no doubt this cost us the game. You simply can't give yourself a mountain to climb like that." But Ferguson was also adamant Mackail-Smith's disallowed effort should have stood. "There's absolutely no reason why Craig's goal in the second half should not have stood," he added. "The referee was appalling and I knew we were never going to get a decision."

Source: Team_Talk