West Brom curse their luck after Bruno Fernandes gives Man Utd first home league win in tale of two penalties

United record their first home league win of the season and go above Man City. The less said about the performance the better though. West Brom will curse their luck after having a penalty overturned and watching Fernandes convert a re-taken spot kick. 

Outstanding block from Furlong to deny Martial but United have a corner and inch closer to the finish line. 

There will be four minutes of stoppage time. While there is still a one-goal deficit there is hope for West Brom. 

Bilic is up out of his technical area trying to urge his team forward and they do have good possession. United dropping off and defending their own defensive third. Martial then leads the counter and wins a foul from Ajayi. 

Both teams looking shattered now, but United get the chance to breathe on the ball. They give it away again though, before Gallgher goes down looking for a foul. Bartley then wins a big tackle to stop the United break. 

Cavani and Martial fail to link up and West Brom get then chance to throw numbers forward. But then Furlong trips up over his own feet and gifts United a goal kick. McTominay is about to replace Fred. 

Van De Beek on now for United, replacing Mata whose race was run. The game has gone into a bit of a lull with neither side creating a chance of note. 

United had numbers on the counter there but overplayed, eventually passing to Fernandes at the edge of the box whose shot was charged down. Fernandes then looks for Rashford over the top, who did not quite take the ball in his stride. 

Good work from Ajayi to drive forward, lose it, and then chase back to pinch the ball off Matic. Moments earlier Cavani made a dart into the box and his shot was blocked. 

West Brom a little more open now, and Rashford plays a cross off a defender’s shin for a corner. Cavni flicks it on at the near post and the ball drops for Maguire at the back stick, who struck his shot into the ground and Johnstone makes another stop. 

More heroics from Johnstone. Fernandes fed a pass that trickled all the way to Rashford at the far post, he worked a yard to try and pass the ball into the far corner but the West Brom ‘keeper got fingertips to it. 

What a stunning introduction to the game from Robinson. Gallagher leading the West Brom charge again, he sets the pass back to Robinson who goes for the curler from the left corner of the box, around 25 yards out, and the ball cannons off the bar with De Gea beaten. 

Both teams make changes. Robinson and Robson-Kanu on for West Brom while Cavani replaces Mata. 

What a crazy, incident-packed start to the half. West Brom should probably be a goal up but find themselves a goal down. United still look a little under par and suddenly quite ragged at the back. 

This time he goes to Johnstone’s right and fires it past him. According to the letter of the law Coote was right to instruct Fernandes to retake it but in the circumstances…West Brom will be fuming. 

West Brom will feel justice is done as Johnstone makes a brilliant save to his left….but hold on! Var’s verdict is that he jumped off his line before making the save. The penalty will be RETAKEN!

Furlong penalised for handball. The ball struck his hand, but the defender had turned his back. It was Mata’s cross that struck him. Will fuel the sense of injustice. 

ANOTHER huge chance for West Brom! Brilliant from De Gea to save with an outstretched leg with Townsend free at the back post. 

An exciting start to the half – Rashford lets fly from distance and Johnstone tips it around the post. 

David Coote has judged that Fernandes got a faint touch on the ball. Peter Walton is surprised the decision was overturned. West Brom can feel aggrieved there. 

Well, well. West Brom get in behind Maguire and for a moment it looked like he might give a penalty away on Grant, but the West Brom forward stayed up and picked out Gallgher with a pass. Fernandes was scrambling back and looked to wrap him on the shin. 

The referee is looking at the monitor…it was hard to see if Fernandes got a nick on the ball before touching Gallagher. Marginal. 

Neither manager has made a change but United need to show more intensity in this half.

United will point to two good saves from Johnstone, both from Martial, as evidence that they should be in front but in truth the standard of their general play has not been good enough. 

United trying to turn the screw but West Brom standing firm. There will be just one minuted of added time. 

Wan Bissaka gets in down the right after a scoop over the top from Fernandes. Mata runs towards the near post and lets the cross go before Furlong hammers it clear. West Brom mess up the chance to break with a mis-placed pass and United have it back. 

Good play from Gallagher, thrusting forward from West Brom’s midfield, and then Diangana’s shot is deflected behind for a corner. West Brom send their three centre-halves up…and Bartley wins it but his flicked header lands on the roof of the net. 

United are starting to sustain attacks with more ease now, West Brom have stopped keeping the ball. Ivanovic up against his old Chelsea team-mate Mata, and does well not to give a penalty away, then a pass towards Wan-Bissaka is too heavy. 

Quick feet from Martial to evade a few West Brom tackles and his shot from 25 yards or so deflects behind for a corner. These are big moments for West Brom who have done so well up until now…Maguire looked to have shoved Ivanovic before belting a shot straight in Bartley’s mush from point-blank range. Fortunately, the West Brom defender is back on his feet. 

That was very nearly the pass of the season from Fernandes, sliced across it with the outside of his foot to pick out Mata at the back post but Townsend got back in to make a nuisance of himself and Johnstone claims. Almost a moment of magic. 

Fernandes angry with himself for mis-placing an attempted through ball. That rather sums up United’s performance so far. Martial’s shirt was being pulled on that penalty appeal, but it was too slight. 

Good reverse pass from Mata to Martial down the right and United sutatin the attack…Martial then goes down in the area looking for a penalty and Var is taking a look at it. It seemed that the United striker went down easily…check complete, no penalty. 

West Brom growing in confidence and starting to inch up the pitch, which could suit United. It has not been great from the home team, but nevertheless Johnstone has still needed to make two good saves. 

Good chance that for West Brom – Pereira slips a good pass between Maguire and Lindelof for a diagonal run in behind from Grant, whose shot clipped off the heel of Lindelof just wide of the post. United clear the corner. 

West Brom competing well in midfield, not United’s strongest department it must be said, and seeing a fair bit of the ball in the last few minutes. Townsend provides a dangerous overlap from left-wing back but the ball just runs out of play for a goal kick. 

United getting closer. After a good spell of West Brom possession Ajayi played the ball straight to Maguire who fed Rashford on the counter-attack. He picked out Fernandes who was all alone in the box, and he teed up Martial with a first-time lay off. Martial directed his shot on target but Johnstone got down well to his left to keep it out. 

That was United’s best move of the game. Fernandes slipped a pass down the gully between the wide centre-back and wing back for Martial, and he feeds a dangerous ball across the penalty area which Furling did well to clear at the back post. 

Fred goes down looking for a free-kick on halfway – referee is having none of it – but then Fernandes does win a foul from Pereira. Sloppy from Matic to gift the ball back West Brom. 

Rashford tried to float a cross in for Fernandes but there was too much on it and West Brom have a goal kick. Mata wants too many touches on the right wing and Diangana sticks to his task well. Ajayi then nips in to win the ball ahead of Rashford. 

West Brom get the chance to enjoy some possession in the United half but the move breaks down with Grant. 

Gallagher tries to harry Matic into a mistake but the United midfielder kept his head and the home team keep the ball. There were positives in West Brom’s showing against Spurs and they are looking to build on that here. No real alarms in open play so far. 

Rashford operating from the left in the early minutes and will be supported on that flank by Telles. Not much rhythm about the home team in possession at the moment. 

Looks to me like West Brom are shaping up in a 5-3-2 with Grant and Diangana up top. Bartley, Ivanovic and Ajayi as the three centre-backs. Bartley gives away a foul on the right and it nearly proves costly: Martial won a flicked header at the near post and Johnstone made a diving save to his right to claw it away. 

United get us started and are kicking towards the empty Stretford End in the first half. 

United’s players are wearing black armbands for the late Albert Quixall. 

Is there enough creativity in that United midfield? Mata was excellent at Newcastle in that roving role from the right. 

Man Utd: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Alex Telles, Matic, Mata, Fred, Bruno Fernandes, Martial, Rashford 

West Brom: Johnstone, Furlong, Bartley, Ivanovic, Ajayi, Townsend, Gallagher, Sawyers, Diangana, Pereira, Grant

Man City have just lost at Spurs so United can jump above them in the table if they take all three points tonight. That is quite remarkable given the doom and gloom around the club in the last few months.

Pogba was not spotted  at the team hotel this afternoon so bis absence is not a surprise. What is a surprise is the inclusion of Matic over McTominay. 

The vultures were circling around Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Manchester United before their trip to Everton, but they managed to pull a result out of the fire and Solskjaer needs that game to be a line in the sand. 

United are yet to win a Premier League game at Old Trafford this season, failing to score against Chelsea and Arsenal, and they will not get many more presentable chances than a fixture against West Bromwich Albion. Slaven Bilic’s team have scored one goal in their last five league games, have the lowest expected goals tally in the league and the second-highest expected goals conceded total. Not the ideal combination, then. 

Solskjaer is hopeful of having Marcus Rashford fit despite reports of a shoulder injury troubling him. Alex Telles could be available, but Victor Lindelof’s ongoing back problem and Mason Greenwood’s recent illness puts their involvement in doubt. All eyes will be on what Solskjaer does in central midfield, with Paul Pogba and Donny van De Beek struggling to nail down regular spots. A brief flirtation with a midfield diamond looks to have been abandoned. 

West Brom have some Covid-19 absences to contend with, including their key creative outlet last season Matheus Pereira.  Since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement though, West Brom have recorded three wins at Old Trafford. 

“As a club, recently, we’ve been doing really good at Old Trafford.” Bilic said. “Last four or five times. I have a pretty good record, considering it’s Man United, with West Ham.

“Every game is difficult, especially for us because we’re newcomers. But this is still Man United away. If you see their roster, it’s massive.

“It’s also a big opportunity for us, but first we have to do what we did against Spurs and against a few others – to make it hard, to try and penetrate, to keep the ball, to be resilient, to have numbers behind the ball when needed and to keep them far from our box.

“That’s our plan, whoever we play against. We know what they have in their locker. We know they have pace, quality, they can score from midfield.

“We have to be on top of our game, but we’re ready.”

Team news on the way shortly.