Daryl Dike and Zack Steffen squared off on Saturday at the Hawthorns with the U.S. men’s national team striker getting the better of his international counterpart.
Dike scored two first-half goals in West Bromwich Albion’s 2-0 home victory over Middlesbrough, giving the 22-year-old his first brace of the season. The result helped West Brom snap a three-match winless run and move five points back of the final promotion playoff spot.
Dike needed only eight minutes to propel the Baggies in front, finishing off Jed Wallace’s pass down the middle of Steffen’s net. It marked Dike’s first goal since Jan. 14 as the hosts took an early advantage.
Right off the ensuing restart, West Brom doubled its lead as Dike finished off his second goal in a two-minute span.
West Brom would hang on to claim an important three points as Dike logged 78 minutes in the match. Dike won eight of 12 duels, drew two fouls, and finished with four shots on goal in the victory.
“Dike, more than just the goals, was doing such a good job,” Carlos Corberan said postmatch about Dike. “The reward for his work today was the goals he managed to score.”
“It feels very, very good for me,” Dike said. “Having not scored for a few games as a striker, it was something that I really wanted to do. On top of that, we’ve managed to keep the home streak going, so it’s great.”
West Brom will visit Hull City on March 3 before returning home for back-to-back matches against Wigan Athletic and Huddersfield Town.
“Daryl Dike scores brace against Zack Steffen in West Brom win”
Should be
“Daryl Dike scores brace, Less than 3 mins apart (8th and 10th min), against Zack Steffen in West Brom win”
lol, Like damn. Hope he continues on this hot streak as Middlesbrough is ranked 3rd in the EFL, compared to West Brom’s 10th.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RDoig037FE
Love to see him start to beast at West Brom at the 9. If he can bring all of his tools together: size, speed, dribbling, and finishing ability and work on his passing and better timed runs, his potential is very high.
His understanding of movement and space and nose for the goal is second to none in our pool. He just sees the spots, sees the angles, sees the gaps in the defense, does the math in his head, and intuitively puts himself into dangerous spots time and again. Every time I watch how he moves off the ball and finishes I’m reminded again why everyone was so excited about him last year before he sort of fizzled in the Gold Cup (which I understand was mostly due to injury.)
I do think with continued improvement he could absolutely play in the Prem. Dike definitely has the physique and understanding. I wish he had a bit more time – he’s already almost 23, at an age where you’d like to see a more finished product, but that also wasn’t his path and it’s still a reality a lot of American kids have to find their way up the ladder however they can.
“I wish he had a bit more time – he’s already almost 23, at an age where you’d like to see a more finished product, but that also wasn’t his path and it’s still a reality a lot of American kids have to find their way up the ladder however they can.”
Y’all act like there is some established formula or path that a player, regardless of nationality, must follow to be worthy. Most every player cited in this section is already exceptional.
Clint didn’t get to England and start showing his stuff until he was almost 24.
Dike is a phenom but he’s also fortunate to have been noticed by the right people. There are other players, perhaps even in Edmunds, Oklahoma, with as much potential , who will never get the kind of chances he did.
We have no idea how close to maximizing his potential he will get or , if he does, how long he will stay there. For his sake I hope he isn’t one of those players who is great between World Cups and then flames out or gets hurt leading up to 2026. It’s all about timing.
Love This Kid.