Manchester United were beaten by West Bromwich Albion 1-0 in the Premier League at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon. It was an abject performance by Jose Mourinho’s side who were lacking a lot to break down and make the relegation-threatened side suffer. United lacked pace, ability and gifted the Baggies too much respect in the defeat, deservedly getting the result they got.
This meant that Manchester City were crowned the Premier League champions, a week after United cancelled their celebrations which were set to commence after the Manchester derby. United need to secure their second-place spot this season and missing the chance to raise their lead to four points ahead of Liverpool could be something they will regret in the coming weeks.
United played the 4-3-3 formation, which may have been too much at home, but was needed with the Baggies packing the midfield at times, also parking the bus to keep United at bay. The referee denied United a penalty in the first half after Ander Herrera was fouled in the box but he was too far out of the action to even see it, continuing the poor Premier League officiating this season.
That is not an excuse for United losing though, it was not down to missing the penalty, it was down to not being good enough on the day, despite having a week’s rest from their last match. The atmosphere at the Theatre of Dreams was poor. The supporters, if you can call them that, should really be ashamed. This is part and parcel of the problem.
There were calls at half-time on Twitter that Mourinho should take some midfield players off and replace them with attacking players. He did just that and despite Jesse Lingard nearly breaking the deadlock moments after coming on, the trio of attacking players did little to help United find what could have been a winner or even an equaliser. Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford were both poor.
United will travel to Bournemouth on Wednesday, playing the match which should have been played this weekend with them playing Tottenham Hotspur in the Emirates FA Cup at Wembley. United will need to put a bit of space between them and Liverpool, or by the end of next weekend, Liverpool will be in second place once again.
Manchester United
1 David De Gea
The Spanish number one made some good saves today but was unable to keep Rodriguez at bay from scoring the Baggies' winner.
25 Antonio Valencia
Played much further forward at times, helping United attack but his final ball was still poor. United need to find a proper right-back or blood Fosu-Mensah into the team next season.
2 Victor Lindelof
The Swedehad a good game. Seemed to injure himself early on but recovered. Was conservative in his play was was not overly stretched by any means.
12 Chris Smalling
Never looked to be comfortable in the match. That seems to be Smalling through and through. That is why people have little faith in him as a starter. Squad player maybe. Needs to be better to continue to play for United.
18 Ashley Young
Had iterally no attacking threat and both Mata and Sanchez were not playing to the width of the pitch. Replaced by Rashford in the 75th minute.
21 Ander Herrera
Should have won a penalty for United in the first half after being brought down in the box but the referee, who was away from the action, gave nothing. Replaced by Lingard at the start of the second half.
31 Nemanja Matic
Unfortunate for him to be the player who inadvertantly gave the assist for Rodriguez to win the match for the Baggies. Had a pretty quiet game.
6 Paul Pogba
The Frenchman played with a big more confidence, running into advanced spaces to help him team, but still needs to do better. Booked for his 'hand of Pog' in the first half and eventually made way for Martial in the 58th minute of the match.
8 Juan Mata
The Spanish magician got involved in the game, attempted to create something on the fringes, but was unable to do so. Mata is a great player but it seems he may not actually fit in this team. Sad to say.
9 Romelu Lukaku
The Belgian always seemed to look like a threat going forward, despite the fact the service to him was not as good as it should be. That seems to be United's major problem. One of the only players to have earned his place this season.
7 Alexis Sanchez
Got stuck in for his team. Created chances, aimed to get something from the game. Tried really hard to get something throughout the game. Admirable performance. One many other players should look at, especially ones dropped to the bench.
Substitutes
14 Jesse Lingard
Replaced Herrera 46'. Almost scored in his first few minutes, had another shot on goal too. Admirable that he got stuck in, it just was not meant to be.
11 Anthony Martial
Replaced Pogba 58'. Had one shot on goal, created no chances and his crossing was poor. This is why he does not play much recently. Needs to buck up his ideas. Sorry if you are offended.
10 Marcus Rashford
Replaced Young 75'. Passing was good (83%). Didn't really do a lot else in the 15 minutes plus stoppage time he spent on the pitch.
Manchester United: De Gea; Valencia, Lindelof, Smalling, Young (Rashford 75′); Herrera (Lingard 46′), Matic, Pogba (Martial 58′); Mata, Lukaku, Sanchez
Substitutes Not Used: Pereira; Jones, Rojo; McTominay
Bookings: Paul Pogba 29′
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