Lift-off in the Europa League!

Albion have lift-off in the Europa League after claiming their first victory in Group B on a special Amex night.

Ajax may be struggling but Albion handed them their first defeat in 12 games in the competition and it was richly deserved.

They broke through just before the break when Joao Pedro scored his fourth Europa League goal in three games with a clinical close-range finish. Eight minutes after the break Ansu Fati netted for the second successive match with a composed strike to round off a wonderful Albion move.

There was one scare when Ajax hit the post but it was as comfortable a night for Albion as Roberto De Zerbi could have wished – and the head coach and Lewis Dunk and co. will be delighted with a first clean sheet of the season.

The team showed four changes from Manchester City last Saturday with Billy Gilmour, Jan Paul van Hecke, Joel Veltman and Ansu Fati coming into the side. Josh Duffus was on the bench for the first time.

After a rousing minute's applause for Gerry Ryan, Albion saw plenty of the ball in the early stages with both full backs Joel Veltman and James Milner pushing up high. They created a good chance on six minutes when Kaoru Mitoma stepped past Anton Gaeel and picked out Joao Pedro 12 yards out. He would have been disappointed not to test goalkeeper Diant Ramaj with his right-foot shot.

Milner too was left with a feeling of what might have been when he found himself ten yards out on the left-hand side of the box after Ajax twice cheaply coughed up possession, but his shot was straight at Ramaj.

Jason Steele was tested when Gaeel drilled a shot from an angle into his midriff before Albion upped the ante midway through the first half. Joao was clearly pushed inside the box by Josep Sutalo but the referee waved away penalty appeals then Simon Adingra volleyed narrowly over from a corner which came after Lewis Dunk’s free-kick from 22 yards had deflected off the defensive wall.

The pressure was mounting. Ramaj pushed away Joao’s angled drive after Mitoma’s excellent pass set up the opportunity before Albion broke through on 42 minutes. Dunk threaded a great ball to Mitoma who cut inside and drilled a low effort which Ramaj could only push out to Joao, who made no mistake from close range. It was no more than Albion deserved.

Eight minutes into the second half and it was 2-0 thanks to a superbly worked goal. Billy Gilmour started the move with a pass to Adingra. He chopped inside and spotted Fati’s clever run past two Ajax defenders. Before a third, Sutalo, could react the Spaniard had taken a delicate touch and rolled a low shot through the defender’s legs past Ramaj and into the far corner.

Fati threatened again in Albion’s next attack with a rising right-footer that didn’t miss the far post by much after Mitoma set him up.

Ajax had shown little, but out of nothing Berghuis was denied by the post on 56 minutes after cutting inside Milner and beating Steele with a low drive that rebounded to a grateful captain to clear.

Albion regained control and saw out the remaining half-hour in comfort, Ajax seemed to have settled for damage limitation. Facundo Buonanotte stung Ramaj’s fingers and De Zerbi was able to rotate his team, making five substitutions with Sunday’s game against Fulham in mind. After ending a run of five without a win in emphatic style Albion will go into it buoyant. Ryan would certainly have enjoyed it. 

Albion: Steele; Veltman, van Hecke (Webster 85), Dunk, Milner (Dahoud 85); Mitoma, Gilmour (Baleba 64), Gross, Adingra; Fati (Buonanotte 64); Joao Pedro (Ferguson 74).

Booked: Mitoma (foul), van Hecke (foul)

Subs not used: Verbruggen, McGill, Igor, Lallana, Hinshelwood, Duffus.

Attendance: 30540