Vitesse Arnhem 1 West Brom 2: Salomon Rondon and Callum McManaman give the Baggies an impressive pre-season win as Saido Berahino nearly scores an own goal

WEST BROM triumphed 2-1 in a pre-season friendly over Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem tonight thanks to goals from Salomon Rondon and Callum McManaman.

The Baggies are in Holland playing the FOX Sports Cup friendly tournament involving Porto, PSV Eindhoven and Vitesse, and opened their account with a win.

Venezuelan striker Rondon, who scored 12 goals in his debut season last term gave Tony Pulis‘ side the lead midway through the first with a sublime free-kick.
Nathan Allan de Souza struck early in the second half to level for Vitesse before substitute McManaman struck the winner with a fine finish off the post.

Pulis fielded a strong side which saw Northern Irish duo Jonny Evans and Gareth McAuley return for their first appearances in pre-season after Euro 2016 duty with Northern Ireland.

On a roasting hot evening, new £5million signing Matt Phillips looked lively as did Scotland international James Morrison, who missed the second half of the last campaign with a ruptured hamstring.

Vitesse threatened with a couple of early chances, but Ben Foster was largely untroubled in a match where Craig Dawson was the one Albion man to remain on the pitch for the full 90 minutes.

While James Chester was the only player not to feature due to his heroics at Euro 2016 with Wales.

After Vitesse’s equaliser, it was left to McManaman, rumoured to be interesting a host of Championship clubs and who missed much of last season through injury to deliver the killer blow.

Wantaway striker Saido Berahino, who came off the bench despite his proposed move to Stoke, nearly scored an own goal with a sliced clearance to give Albion a scare, but they held on a record an impressive win to open the tournament.

Pulis has had a frustrating summer in the transfer market, with Phillips his only signing – but skipper Darren Fletcher was impressed with their performance.

He said: “It was tough physically. First and foremost, we knew we were going to be leggy going into the game but it was important just to get the first 45 minutes.

“As everyone knows, it’s a tough pre-season. The manager isn’t concerned about results but, in the end, to get the victory is good.

“For us it was just about two teams getting 45 minutes and taking another step on the road to the beginning of the season.”