Relegation continues to stare both West Brom and Southampton in the face after
a result which will please neither side.
Albion remain rooted to the bottom of the Barclays Premiership, with just one
win league win at The Hawthorns since the start of October.
As for the Saints, although they leapfrog Norwich into 18th with this point,
they have not won away from home for 16 matches, stretching back to April last
year.
Should Albion be relegated they can look back on these last few weeks as
pivotal, taking a miserable two points off relegation rivals Crystal Palace,
Norwich and now Southampton.
The opening seven minutes were cagey and Albion were afforded the first
opportunity of the game when Rory Delap brought down Robert Earnshaw on the edge
of the area, with the striker restored to the line-up in favour of the dropped
Kanu.
Zoltan Gera's right-foot free-kick struck the wall but the ball ran kindly to
Kevin Campbell for a shot on the turn from 12 yards, only for Andreas Jakobsson
to make a crucial block.
The Saints soon responded but were thwarted by the woodwork as Russell Hoult
pushed Peter Crouch's header on to the post before Paul Robinson hacked the ball
clear.
The half continued to ebb and flow in the same vein, with Albion's main threat
coming from Kieran Richardson. He forced Saints goalkeeper Paul Smith into a
smart tip-over with an 18th-minute free-kick.
In-form Henri Camara, with four goals already for Southampton since his loan
move to St Mary's, then attempted an angled lob over a stranded Hoult but his
effort drifted wide of the right-hand post.
Robinson hesitated when it came to clearing Graeme Le Saux's ball forward,
almost allowing Nigel Quashie to steal in but an alert Hoult cleared two yards
from outside his area before delivering a stinging rebuke to his team-mate.
Within a minute Richardson came close again, his first shot on the turn
blocked by Claus Lundekvam before the follow-up crashed against the crossbar.
An eventful 60 seconds for Richardson concluded with a booking for a foul on
Jamie Redknapp, sandwiching cautions in the opening period for Delap and Albion
team-mate Gera.
Southampton had the last opportunity of the half, with Camara powering a
bullet header goalwards from Le Saux's cross.
Hoult, though, produced a brilliant reaction save to tip the ball over the
crossbar.
Aside from another Richardson free-kick, punched clear by Smith, and Earnshaw
curling wide after being set up by Campbell, Albion rarely threatened the Saints
goal during the second half.
Instead, it was Redknapp who watched his side waste opportunities to win the
match, first in the 67th minute through Camara, and then David Prutton missed a
glorious chance.
The Senegalese forward chased down a raking pass from Olivier Bernard down the
left wing, left Thomas Gaardsoe on the seat of his shorts before cutting inside
Neil Clement, but with only Hoult to beat from 12 yards he scooped his shot over
the bar.
Worse was to follow 10 minutes from time after Quashie and Bernard combined
well down the left, with the latter delaying a dinked cross to the far post
where Prutton contrived to sidefoot over an open goal from six yards.
Man-of-the-match Hoult then saved Robson at the death with a fingertip stop to
a 20-yard Redknapp free-kick that had taken an awkward deflection off the wall.
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