Wayne Rooney fired Manchester United to the top of the Premier League table with a brace against West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford. The 2-0 win, combined with Manchester City's loss at Swansea City, sees United leapfrog their crosstown rivals into first place, and the result will rather overshadow what was actually some fairly disappointing play from the defending champions.
Manchester United Vs. WBA, 2012 Premier League: United Win 2-0, Go Top
West Brom were actually very good for most of the match, and had given United more than a few scares before Rooney opened the scoring with what amounted to a tip-in from Javier Hernandez's curling effort. David de Gea was forced into action several times as the visitors, who were in the middle of a great run of form, looked to spring a surprise, but eventually United wrested control back began to turn the screws. Paul Scholes and Ashley Young were key to the turnaround, with the former solidifying their control of the midfield while the later caused havoc with his darting runs.
Even after the hosts took the lead, WBA looked like they'd have some say in the match, and they were rather unfortunate to be denied a penalty after Patrice Evra hacked down Peter Odemwingie in the box only for Lee Probert to completely ignore the foul. Karma seemed to reassert itself in the following few minutes, with Hernandez hitting the post and Danny Welbeck missing an open goal on the volley, but then the visitors' luck took another turn for the worse with Jonas Olsson picked up a second yellow in the 66th minute.
United soon reaped the rewards of their numerical advantage, with Rooney slotting home a penalty following Keith Andrews’ foul on Young, and the hosts then saw out the rest of the match with minimal difficulty. With news of Swansea’s winner against City hitting the stands as the board went up to show the three minutes of stoppage time, the mood around Old Trafford at full time was something approaching ecstatic. The title is now United’s for the losing.
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