Striker Michael Mifsud was sent-off before a brace from Filipe Teixeira either side of strikes from Paul Robinson and Robert Koren sank Iain Dowie's men.

The game was just eleven minutes old when Mifsud was given his marching orders by referee Phil Dowd after appearing to elbow Baggies defender Carl Hoefkens in the face as he chased after the ball.

Dowd seemed initially unsure but after consulting the fourth official deemed the challenge from the Maltese hit-man was worthy of a straight red card.

The home players and support were both reeling from the decision and Stephen Hughes saw a long-range shot deflect behind before Dele Adebola sent a glancing header from the resultant corner narrowly wide.

Midfielder Hughes, the solitary change to the side which claimed a dramatic late 2-1 win at QPR six days before, again sported the specially designed mask to protect a broken cheekbone - but it lasted just less than half an hour as the fired-up star threw the mask off the pitch in frustration.

The Baggies were also forced to reshuffle in the in the 37th minute when midfielder James Morrison was forced to leave the action on a stretcher after falling awkwardly while stretching for the ball.

A last-ditch tackle from Hoefkens then foiled Leon Best as the City striker bore down on goal, while at the other end Dimi Konstantopoulos was alert to claw a goal-bound effort from Teixeira over the bar.

The visitors threw men forward at the start of the second-half as they looked to make their extra man count but only a weak shot from Ishmael Miller tested Konstantopoulos.

City skipper Michael Doyle then fired a speculative volley from the edge of the area wide before a quick counter attack from the Baggies resulted in the elusive opener.

Full-back Paul Robinson, the scorer of the goal in West Brom's 1-0 win at the Ricoh Arena last season, found himself in behind the Sky Blues back-line and confidently slipped the ball over a stranded Konstantopoulos with his left-foot.

And the home defence was caught napping again little more than a minute later as Tony Mowbray's men doubled their advantage.

Ben Turner and Arjan de Zeeuw allowed the ball to run across the face of goal after Miller's run into the area  and Teixeira nipped in to steer the ball into the net from four-yards.

A fierce Jonathan Greening shot from 25-yards flew narrowly wide of Konstantopoulos' left upright before the powerful Miller drove the ball into the side-netting after cutting inside from the right flank.

The Baggies were dominating possession, producing some flowing forward play and they put the result beyond doubt in the 73rd minute when Portuguese star Teixeira latched onto a pass from Hoefkens in the area and found space to drill a right-footed strike into the bottom corner.

Leon McKenzie replaced a tiring Adebola with ten minutes remaining and injected some life into the City attack but West Brom continued to pose more of a threat in front of goal and added a fourth in stoppage time when Robert Koren tapped into an open goal after good work from the influential Teixeira.

Coventry City: Konstantopoulos, Osbourne, de Zeeuw, Turner, Hall, S Hughes, Doyle, Tabb, Mifsud, Adebola (McKenzie, 80), Best (Kyle, 46). Subs (Not Used): Marshall (GK), Ward, Cairo.

Goals: None

Booked: None

Sent-off: Mifsud (violent conduct)

West Brom: Kiely, Hoefkens, Barnett, Cesar, Robinson, Morrison (Brunt, 37), Greening (c), Koren, Teixeira, Gera, Miller (Bednar, 77). Subs (Not Used): Steele (GK), Hodgkiss, Pele.

Goals: Robinson (56), Teixeira (58, 73), Koren (90)

Booked: Cesar (foul), Hoefkens (foul), Koren (foul)

Attendance: 18,566 (2,210 West Brom)