Manchester United picked up their first home win of the premier league season after defeating West Bromwich Albion 1-0 at Old Trafford on Saturday, November 21st. Bruno Fernandes’ second-half penalty proved the difference maker, Man Utd moved up to ninth on 13 points while West Brom stay 18th on three points.
United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made two changes to his previous starting XI by replacing the injured Luke Shaw and Scott McTominay with Alex Telles and Nemanja Matic, with the former making his Old Trafford debut. Paul Pogba was omitted from the 18-man squad to an ankle injury sustained during international duty with France.
West Brom manager Slaven Bilić made four changes to the side that was beaten by Spurs before the international break, with Branislav Ivanović, Matheus Pereira, Romaine Sawyers and Grady Diangana coming in for Dara O’Shea, Jake Livermore, Filip Krovinović and Callum Robinson.
Man Utd started the match well but West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone twice produced fine saves to deny Anthony Martial. A minute after the break, West Brom were awarded a penalty following a foul on Conor Gallagher by Fernandes. However, referee David Coote overturned his decision after reviewing the pitchside monitor.
At the other end, a penalty for handball by Darnell Furlong was converted at the second attempt by Fernandes on 56 minutes. The Portuguese’s spot-kick was initially saved, but the VAR adjudged Johnstone came off his line too early and the retaken penalty was scored.
What Next ?
- Manchester United will travel to Southampton on 29th November.
- West Brom will host Sheff Utd on 28th November.
Match Stats :
| Manchester United | West Bromwich Albion | |
|---|---|---|
| 63.1 | Possession % | 36.9 |
| 7 | Shots on target | 2 |
| 17 | Shots | 7 |
| 842 | Touches | 585 |
| 663 | Passes | 385 |
| 13 | Tackles | 13 |
| 7 | Clearances | 17 |
| 8 | Corners | 2 |
| 1 | Offsides | 1 |
| 1 | Yellow cards | 1 |
| 12 | Fouls conceded | 17 |
