West Brom 0 Crystal Palace 2 - Report

Luka Miliovejivc's 11th-minute free-kick and a deflected Bakary Sako shot two minutes before half-time were enough to give the Eagles a comfortable 2-0 win over the Baggies, who had far more chances than their opponents but failed to take any.

But results in pre-season don't really matter, when performances and fitness are far more important.

And Tony Pulis can take heart from a spirited second-half performance that included a couple of promising cameos from Albion's youngsters even if Palace outshone them in the first period.

Before the game, Pulis said the key thing was getting through the game unscathed, so when influential skipper Jonny Evans went down in the 22nd minute with a rolled ankle, no doubt his heart was in his mouth.

Evans, who was playing in holding midfield, had to be replaced by Claudio Yacob but he walked off the pitch which is encouraging.

And in a mid-match interview with the television cameras, assistant head coach Ben Garner said: "Jonny wanted to stay on because of the type of character he is. With it being pre-season we're taking the safe option. I'm sure he'll be alright in a couple of days."

It may have officially been a pre-season friendly, but at times it really wasn't that friendly.

Claudio Yacob and Ahmed Hegazi had a coming together with Milivojevic at half-time while Allan Nyom attempted to rough up Wilfred Zaha for much of the game.

The winger was causing Nyom all manner of problems down the left and considering how many times the full-back resorted to fouling him, it was unsurprising that he won the free-kick that led to the goal.

This time though, Nyom couldn't touch Zaha, who burst past him with ease before beating Craig Dawson to the ball causing the centre-back to unceremoniously upended him.

Milivojevic then stepped up and curled a sumptuous free-kick inside Ben Foster's near post.

Albion's keeper might have done better, but he was let down by Jake Livermore in the wall, who could have easily prevented it going in if he had jumped instead of turning his back on the ball.

The Evans experiment was cut short soon after when the Northern Irishman rolled his ankle.

Although the Baggies skipper wanted to stay on, Pulis took no chances and withdrew him from proceedings in place of Yacob, who also took the armband off Evans.

Ten minutes before half-time, Salomon Rondon latched on to a pull-back from Matt Phillips - who was Albion's brightest spark.

The Venezuelan did well to fashion himself a chance, although his toe-poked shot was well smothered by Wayne Hennessey.

But then Palace doubled their lead in hugely fortuitous circumstances.

Sako dragged his long-range shot along the floor and wide but it took a little knick off Ahmed Hegazi before a big deflection off Dawson's legs that wrong-footed Foster.

The Egyptian centre-back had a great chance to reduce the arrears shortly after half-time when a free-kick fell to him at the back post but he blazed his shot over from inside the six yard box.

But that opportunity sparked a good spell for Albion. Phillips went close on two occasions, trying to bend the ball into far corner, before Jay Rodriguez nearly latched on to a Chadli cross at the back post.

Rondon then tested Speroni with a shot on target before Pulis rung the changes.

Two of those substitutes combined when Jonathan Leko burst forward from his own half and fed James McClean on the left, who cut inside before firing his right-footed shot just over the bar.

Tyler Roberts also had a couple of shots on goal, but it was 17-year-old Kane Wilson's impressive performance at left-back that caught the eye the most.

Teams:

Albion (4-1-4-1): Foster, Nyom, Dawson, Hegazi, Brunt (Wilson 60), Evans (c) (Yacob 22), Phillips (McClean 60), Chadli (Roberts 75), Livermore (Field 70), Rodriguez (Leko 60), Rondon (Robson-Kanu 60).

Unused subs: Myhill, Harper, O'Shea, Melbourne.