In a feisty Black County Derby affair that saw the game even get temporarily stopped due to crowd troubles, West Bromwich Albion would have been disappointed with the final outcome.
Carlos Corberan's Baggies would crash out of the FA Cup after losing 2-0 to Wolverhampton Wanderers, with a number of first-team figures at the Hawthorns letting the occasion get the better of them as Gary O'Neil's men returned back to Molineux with their bragging rights in-tact.
On another day – if West Brom had their shooting boots on – the West Midlands outfit could have beaten their fierce Premier League rivals but Wolves' top-flight quality and efficiency shone in the tasty lunchtime match.
Wolves too good for the Baggies
Pedro Neto's opening strike in this full-blooded game showcased the gulf in quality between the two sides, the West Brom defence bamboozled by the Portuguese star's trickery before a low and hard finish caught stand-in goalkeeper Josh Griffiths out.
Yet, the Baggies amassed more shots on goal than their Black Country opponents despite their lacklustre nature in front of goal – accumulating 12 shots to the Old Gold's eight.
Moreover, Corberan's men just about edged possession too with 51% of the ball in their favour. Yet, come full-time, the hosts would exit the competition.
The West Brom defence in particular didn't cover themselves in glory when the the full-time whistle was sounded away from the misfiring forward players, with usually dependable right-back Darnell Furlong looking shaky throughout the match at the Hawthorns.
Darnell Furlong let West Brom down
Given a dismal 5/10 rating post-match by Birmingham Live journalist Charlie Haffenden for his efforts against Wolves, Furlong was extremely wasteful on the ball when his team needed him to be razor-sharp and screwed on in such a high-intensity match-up.
Losing possession a dire 25 times in total, to continually allow Wolves a way into the contest via the counter-attack, the out-of-sorts Baggies number two further let himself and his team down with 17 misplaced passes notched up too over a 90-minute display he'll want to quickly forget about.
Minutes played
90
Duels won
3/7
Possession lost
25x
Fouls given away
2
Accurate passes
26/43
Accurate long balls
3/11
Winning just three duels in an uncharacteristically lightweight display – the 28-year-old losing just two duels against Blackburn Rovers earlier in the month from eight attempted – Furlong's experience and calming influence were nowhere to be found as the likes of Neto and Matheus Cunha wreaked havoc as a result.
Wolves' standout number seven was notably buoyed on by Furlong's passive display defensively, only misplacing one pass and finding the back of the net with his only shot of the game in a classy display on the big occasion.
Corberan will aim to take some comfort from the fact that Furlong is just getting these below-par performances out of his system now, not leaving these timid displays to rear their ugly head when the Baggies need to crucially pick up wins at the end of the Championship campaign.
Furlong will be gutted about his off-day, but if the right-back is selected by Corberan for West Brom's upcoming second-tier game against Birmingham City to start February, he will want to show to his manager it was nothing more than a blip and he can come back stronger and better for it.