Match Report: Observations From United’s Hard Earned Win Over West Brom

Manchester United moved to within three points of top spot after battling to a well deserved 2-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon. Jesse Lingard, who came through the academy at United, scored his first goal for the club after half time before a Juan Mata penalty confirmed the points with minutes remaining after Gareth McAuley was shown a straight red card for fouling Antony Martial. WhoScored takes a look at two talking points from the match.

MEMPHIS UP AGAINST IT

The 21-year-old has struggled to settle at United since making the move over the summer and it hasn’t gone unnoticed at the club. The Netherlands international’s poor form has seen him drop down the pecking order at United and replaced in the starting fold by academy graduate Lingard. The Warrington-born winger has excelled in recent weeks and was finally rewarded with his first goal for the club at the weekend, meaning Memphis will have to work even harder to earn his spot back.

Memphis was sent out to warm up as the teams emerged from half time with United still searching for the elusive first goal. However, he wouldn’t even make it on after Lingard broke the deadlock with a superb finish less than 10 minutes later. The former PSV Eindhoven winger has been dispossessed more often per game than any other player in the division (4) and hasn’t proven the creative outlet United signed. Instead, Lingard is now stepping into that role. The United academy graduate provided the crucial assist in their Champions League triumph over CSKA Moscow in midweek and went one better against the Baggies on Saturday, also earning the WhoScored man of the match award (8.2 rating)

Not just that, but he was also a diligent in his defensive duties and showed an awareness in his game that Louis van Gaal would later praise. No United player made more tackles than Lingard (4) and his enthusiasm to press proved problematic for West Brom all afternoon.

WEST BROM REVEAL BLUEPRINT TO BEAT UNITED

In his post match press conference, Tony Pulis reeked frustration. The Baggies manager was distraught for his players, who had worked their socks off for 90 minutes only to return to the Midlands empty handed. The game could have been very different had Saido Berahino managed to find the target with a free header from six yards out with United only ahead by the one goal at the time. While West Brom will have to turn attentions elsewhere, the manner of their defeat revealed what more teams of West Brom’s stature should try to do against Van Gaal’s possession based fanatics at Old Trafford

West Brom’s game plan was to remain as compact as possible for the opening hour, happy to see little of the ball, but crucially to give United nothing in the way of chances. Pulls deployed This even both of his wingers on their unflavoured flanks so they would come inside onto their stronger sides and add even more bodies into an already congested middle third of the pitch.

Pulis knew the game would open up more after that and both wingers would return to their usual wings where they could start to run down the outside of their markers. The switch in mindset carved out the chance that Berahino should have buried, with right-back Craig Dawson allowed to venture further forward.

The game plan came within 10 minutes of working as Lingard’s strike broke the deadlock, but it wasn’t a goal that had anything to do with Van Gaal’s way of playing, but actually individual craft, which should convince other teams to follow a similar blueprint to frustrate them and their fans.

Up until the first goal, West Brom had just 28.4% of the ball and completed only 77 passes compared to United’s 356. They also only managed two shots on goal, neither of which would force David de Gea into action.

What were the talking points from United's win over West Brom? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below