Manchester United picked up three more vital points after a narrow, but deserving, 2-1 win over a battling West Bromwich Albion side at The Hawthorns on Sunday. The Reds grabbed a third consecutive away win in the Premier League as two goals in eight first-half minutes from Romelu Lukaku and Jesse Lingard were enough for the three points, despite substitute Gareth Barry scrambling the ball home late on. Jose Mourinho made three changes following the win over Bournemouth in midweek with Ashley Young, Ander Herrera and Marcus Rashford all coming in.
It was a strange coincidence that the fixture list threw up a trip to The Hawthorns for the Reds on exactly the same date as last season – 17 December. A year ago to the day, a scoring double from Zlatan Ibrahimovic ensured a routine 2-0 victory for United and the Reds started in positive fashion this time around with much of the early ball possession. It took 27 minutes for the first clear sight of goal though and Lukaku did not need a second invitation to put the Reds in front as he powerfully headed in Rashford’s expert, left-wing cross into the top corner. The Belgian’s 15th goal of the season was reminiscent of the header he scored in midweek and this time he had an excuse not to celebrate against his former club.
The hosts look to hit back immediately as Allan Nyom’s cross was importantly blocked by Chris Smalling before Salomon Rondon could slide the ball home. Antonio Conte admitted defeat some time ago and one can sympathise with the Chelsea coach’s complaint that no one is watching his team any longer, even though they are in a good vein of form and have won eight of their past 10 games. Romelu Lukaku sets Manchester United on victory path at West Brom.
Jürgen Klopp spoke at the weekend of Liverpool wanting to prove themselves the best of the rest, which is a legitimate ambition on Merseyside but would not hold as much appeal for Manchester United. Neither José Mourinho nor his players could take much pride in finishing second if it turns out Pep Guardiola and City are streets ahead in first. United are actually on a decent run of their own, with only one defeat in seven league games since they lost at Chelsea on Bonfire night, though there are no prizes for guessing the identity of the side that inflicted the most recent wound.
United keep coming second-best to their neighbours and even though this victory narrowed the gap to 11 points rather than 14 at the top, that is still rather an ominous gap before the halfway point of the season has been reached. United have a perfectly respectable number of points for this stage of the season but City have already passed the half‑century. United have scored 39 goals, at an average better than two a game, yet City are averaging better than three.
