An impressive performance from West Bromwich Albion saw them earn a shocking 1-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford, earning a magnificent result late in the season. The victory all but guarantees that they’ll be in the Premier League next season, something few fans would have expected after their early-season doldrums.
3 things we learned from West Brom’s 1-0 upset of Manchester United
West Brom earned a big win at Old Trafford and taught us a few things along the way.
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West Brom came out to start the match in a defensive shape, with four centerbacks on the back line and a five-man midfield dominated by guys who tackle first and ask questions later. Playing at Old Trafford and with absolute safety from relegation not far away, the priority for Tony Pulis was clearly to not concede against United's high-powered attack.
Despite that ultra-defensive shape, West Brom had their chances early on. United’s midfield was set up in an attacking manner with little in the way of a defensive shield, allowing West Brom space to work with on the counter attack. They struggled to get numbers forward, but the pressure they were able to mount did a good job of slowing down Manchester’s attack, forcing them to stay disciplined and not over-commit.
United had their chances as well -- their attack has so much firepower it'd be impossible for them not to. But with Robin van Persie still working his way back into form after an injury layoff and Wayne Rooney carrying a knee injury, United struggled to take full advantage of their chances. West Brom were able to consistently funnel United's attacks into less dangerous areas, and for much of the match they were able to completely neutralize the dangerous presence of Marouane Fellaini.
The chess match style of this game lead to a scoreless first half, but the second had a different feel to it. West Brom ramped up the aggression, smelling a chance to cause an upset and get something out of this match in their quest for Premier League safety. United looked shell-shocked at having to put up a defense, and it eventually seemed like only a matter of time before something gave in.
That moment came in the form of a 63rd minute free kick, given up by a desperate foul just outside the box from Manchester defender Patrick McNair against an open attacking run from West Brom. Just as the announcers were talking about how opportunistic and well-timed West Brom could be with their goalscoring and how Manchester couldn’t afford to give them chances like this one, Chris Brunt sent the ball in and Jonas Olsson hammered it home past a crossed-up David de Gea.
That served as a wake-up call for United, who started pushing up hard and fast to find an equalizer. The next ten minutes saw two separate handball controversies, the first of which saw United players upset at being denied a penalty when it appeared that Joleon Lescott handled a cross from Antonio Valencia. Anthony Taylor waved away the protests and replays made it look more like a ball-to-hand incident, with Lescott turning his head away and his arm slightly away from his body as a natural balance for the turn he was making at the moment.
A few minutes later Taylor did point to the spot when Saido Berahino was judged to handle another cross at the edge of the West Brom area, though this one had its own controversy as Berahino was right at the edge of the box when the contact occurred. Whether he was outside or inside the box depended on your angle of view, and it was a hard call for Taylor to make. The referee stuck to his guns and van Persie stepped up to equalize for United -- but West Brom goalkeeper Boaz Myhill, who had been having a fantastic match, parried his shot away with ease to preserve the Baggies’ lead.
Myhill kept coming up big, making a series of huge saves as West Brom had to weather a hellacious attacking storm from United over the final minutes, but weather it they did, holding on to their 1-0 lead and all but assuring themselves Premier League safety. Only a catastrophe would see West Brom relegated now, basically requiring them to lose out and have a host of other results go against them.
Manchester suddenly find themselves just four points clear of Liverpool, and now instead of pushing for second place must fight just to keep a spot in the top four. This match certainly turned a lot of things on their heads, and West Brom's players should be proud of what they accomplished.
Manchester United: David de Gea; Antonio Valencia, Chris Smalling, Patrick McNair (Falcao 83'), Daley Blind (Angel Di Maria 64'); Ander Herrera, Marouane Fellaini, Wayne Rooney; Juan Mata, Robin van Persie, Ashley Young
Goals: None
Goals: Olsson (63’)
3 things
1. Manchester United missed Michael Carrick. Many United fans and neutrals alike love to hate on Carrick, and it's easy to see why. He's a fairly limited player at this point in his career and isn't good at quite a few things you'd expect a midfielder to be good at for a team at Manchester's level. But with how Louis van Gaal has been deploying United's midfield, Carrick suits them well for two things: his surety in possession and range of passing. With Ander Herrera filling his role, only the quality on the ball was present. The Spaniard lacks Carrick's range and United struggled to adjust to that, something that showed up several times during the match, especially on counter attacks.
2. Tony Pulis is very, very good at what he does. Pulis is a manager who gets a lot of grief for the style of football he has his teams play, but you have to give him credit for being really good at getting his teams to play well in that style. The constricting, deep, combative and opportunistic style that typifies a Pulis team allowed West Brom to frustrate a driven United side, cutting them off at almost every turn and constantly forcing Manchester’s attack into poor positions that didn’t help them much at all. That style may not be much fun to watch, but it’s turned West Brom from a team that looked bound for relegation during the holiday period into one that looks like a lock to stay up next season.
3. Manchester need to figure out their front line this summer. Look, van Persie and Falcao are talented players, but van Persie is hurt too often and too streaky for United to rely on any more, and Falcao just doesn’t fit van Gaal’s tactics. They’ve been able to limp along with Fellaini working as a quasi-second striker paired with Rooney for much of the season, but that won’t be enough next season. If United want to make a serious run in the Champions League and keep competing in the high reaches of the Premier League, they need to invest heavily at forward. Trouble is, United have several other positions needing financial investment as well, which could leave their resources spread thin. Fortunately, United make a lot of money through commercial partnerships and sponsorships, but they’ll need to be smart about how they spend it this summer.
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