Tuesday evening’s clash between Stoke City and Huddersfield Town in the second round of the EFL Cup certainly had a surprise in store for fans in attendance.
Hosting our former Premier League opponents for the Cup clash, former West Bromwich Albion striker Saido Berahino finally ended a two and a half year wait for a goal to open his account with us and start paying back the reported £12million we coughed up for him back in the January 2017 transfer window.
With Stoke adding a second to take a 2-0 victory and book their place in the third round draw, it was the 25-year-old who took the headlines post game as he broke his 913-day draught.
It certainly sparked social media into life and it wasn’t just Stoke fans who expressed their emotions and the development, his former Baggies fans were also more than delighted to get into the mix for their own reasons given how he ended his spell with them after a move to Tottenham Hotspur was refused.
You’re asking for trouble here Dan he returns to The Hawthorns on Saturday and wouldn’t you just know it #pleasegodno
— Carl Alexander (@CarlAlexander74) August 28, 2018
THE END IS NEAR! SAIDO BERAHINO HAS FINALLY SCORED! THE END IS VERY NEAR! #WBA #SCFC https://t.co/jP9NigQ7Wb
— Mozzarella (@MYSTIC_MOZZA) August 28, 2018
Trust Berahino to find his scoring boots the game before he plays us #wba
— Dan Penn (@pennawba) August 28, 2018
What's the odds of a follow up on Saturday for Berahino!? #wba
— CJ (@Cj_262) August 28, 2018
☹
— Owain Bradley (@owain_ob1) August 28, 2018
I mean Saido #Berahino is absolutely destined to score against us next week now. Nice one Mr. McAuley. #wba #scfc #WBASTO
— Ant Swailes (@AntSwailes) August 28, 2018
At least as he scored tonight it means I won’t worry the duck will be broken against us on Saturday. #prolificsaido #WBA
— Steve Nash (@Stevenfnash) August 28, 2018
The lad is oozing confidence. What a time to be alive
— Dan (@DannyPenfold) August 28, 2018
Delighted for Saido. He’s been torn to bits this last two years but he’s back! SAIDOOOOO BERAHINOOOOOO!!
— Sean (@SeanStokie) August 28, 2018
Gotta say, I let out a little ‘yeaahhhhhhhhhh’ when I heard it was Berahino.
— Reynard The Fox (@ReynardRoux) August 29, 2018
West Brom fans are entitled to their jokes if the roles were reversed a section of Stoke fans would’ve repaid the favour.
What matters now though is Berahino takes every ounce of confidence and relief he can from not having it hang around his neck anymore, and he needs to get back to his best and recapture the finishing form he showed he was capable of.
There’s no better fixture than the next one and they clearly know that.
That will end the jokes, that will get him back on track and that will salvage what has been the wasting of a very talented career over the last few years. His bank balance won’t imply that given the ridiculous wages footballers earn these days but he has the chance to make up for some lost time now and if he doesn’t when his legs are gone, the zeroes in his bank account won’t make up for the ‘what ifs’ when it finally dawns on him.
