West Bromwich Albion 2-0 Rotherham United – Baggies comfortably beat Millers

West Bromwich Albion strengthened their place in the Championship play-off spots with an easy win over relegated Rotherham United.

With four games remaining, Carlos Corberan's side are six points clear of fourth-placed Southampton, four points clear of sixth-placed Norwich City and, most importantly, nine points clear of seventh-placed Coventry City. .

However, in order to overcome three consecutive losses and secure their 20th league win of the season, they needed help from a huge refereeing blunder.

Albion scored their 12th goal of the season in the 23rd minute when recalled left-back Adam Leitch missed his marker and crossed to unmarked top scorer Thomas Asante from less than a foot out. I decided and took the lead.

But the Baggies' second goal in the first minute of first-half stoppage time was almost comical after it was confirmed at the weekend, although it was not for Rotherham. Relegation to League 1.

Thomas Asante fired a powerful right-footed shot from outside the area that Rotherham defender Lee Pelletier tried to block, but the ball was covered by his outstretched arm and hit him in the face.

However, referee Geoff Eltringham not only incorrectly deemed it a handball, but also ruled that it happened inside the penalty area when in fact Pelletier was at least a yard outside the box.

Mr Eltringham named one member of Rotherham's coaching staff, former Wolves and Albion assistant manager Rob Kelly, for the severity of the protest.

Swift then scored from the spot for his ninth goal of the season. The question then seemed to be how many points Albion would win.

However, Albion were without captain Jed Wallace due to illness and had a much changed squad, having made four changes.

Instead, in front of just 179 away fans, in a strangely subdued atmosphere that included new owner Shiren Patel at Albion's third-lowest home gate this season, Rotherham surged forward in the second half. It performed well and was never broken again. .

The Millers have 14 players out of contract this summer and will clearly be undergoing a summer reshuffle under Reem Richardson, but at least there were signs of hope for next season.

Who's next?

Albion are at home again this Saturday, hosting the unpredictable Sunderland.

Rotherham made another trip to Swansea.

West Bromwich Albion head coach Carlos Corberan told BBC Sport:

“I have not seen the video of the penalty incident, but I knew from the level of protest from the Rotherham bench that there were doubts.

“I expect the team to compete at the highest level from now until the end of the season.

“Every game is tough, but we need to keep moving forward and achieve incredible things.”

Rotherham United manager Reem Richardson told BBC Sport:

“The penalty was wrong, of poor quality and changed the whole outcome of the game.

“That was a shot outside the box that hit me in the face, I've never seen that before.

“As the judges tried to get into the dressing room, they told me about the same decisions and apologies this season, but I don't have time for that.

“Since I took this job, things haven't been good for us. But we were always in the game and looked good on the counter-attack.”