Dorrans gets the Baggies bouncing

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A live rendition of the "Post Horn Gallop" is always a stirring affair, but it was Albion rather than Leicester who found inspiration yesterday, following up their 5-0 thrashing of Watford with another impressive victory to confirm their attempt to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking is back on track.

First-half goals from Graham Dorrans and Gonzalo Jara put the Baggies firmly in control, and although Bruno Berner scored from close range deep into injury time, it did nothing to disguise the fact that Albion were much the better team. So much so, in fact, that their manager, Roberto Di Matteo, not known for the jocularity of his post-match press conferences, managed to joke about taking his squad to Spain to work on their golf swings, rather than their defensive organisation.

"We should have scored a third to put the game to bed, but we absolutely deserved to win," the Italian said. "We attacked well, we defended well and we moved the ball around well, so it was a very good overall performance."

It was fair comment, because Di Matteo can only have been delighted by the way his side approached a match against a team themselves harbouring ambitions of automatic promotion after three consecutive wins. City's goalkeeper, Chris Weale, will have been disappointed that both goals were conceded from distance – Dorrans's opener, a free-kick from near the touchline, was an attempted cross which barely had the strength to creep over the line – but Albion were well on top, and only Luke Moore's profligacy in front of goal ensured that they were not already well ahead. Leicester tried hard thereafter, but showed few signs of breaking down an Albion defence expertly marshalled by Abdoulaye Méïté.

"No complaints, they were the better side," City's manager, Nigel Pearson, said. "We'd probably had our best spell prior to conceding the two goals, and I was delighted with our commitment and work-rate in the second half. I'm not going to be downbeat."