West Brom 1-2 Manchester United Match Analysis

The first day of Premier League games were bore-fests galore, but the second day did not disappoint, apart from Chelsea's drab first-half at the Brittania which did liven up in the second half though.

But, the champions have shown they mean business with the usual flamboyance and willpower to wear teams down.

We were off the blocks in the first 20 minutes, and only wasteful finishing prevented us from taking a more healthier lead in that time. Great interchanging of passing between Rooney and new Devil, Young, created a well taken shot by Rooney which squiggled past Foster. The goal showed the reason why we sold him last season.

Wayne's smilling again

West Brom slowly played their way into the game and with Nani wasting two great chances, David De Gea, unfortunately made a howler of a shot by Long and managed to let it slowly roll into the net. The Spaniard should be saving those bread-and-butter saves and will have to improve quickly.

Oops, I did it again !!

In the second-half, we again dominated possesion and the tempo of the game, but without creating any chances with real conviction. With Somen Tchoyi and Long making a nuisance of themselves, the match was always in the balance.

Then came the invididual brilliance by Ashley Young, when he tricked himself inside the box on the left and cut a cross back which took two
very fortunate deflections off  West Brom defenders, the final one supplied by Steven Reid who was having a torrid time with Young throughout the match unlike Shorey at the other flank who was untroubled during the match with Nani deciding to perform his usual inconsistent self.

United's young defence, after the departure of Rio and Vidic, and De Gea in particular, then withstood some aerial and physical onslaughts, but did well to withstand it and take the first 3 points of the season.

All in all, a good game to watch, and a good enough performance by the champions to show that we're hungry to win yet another title. And, Young, Jones and Cleverley showed that extra determination which will be needed to win more matches like this one in the future. The only taint is the injuries to the first-choice centre-backs for United, although the strength-in-depth of the best squad in Europe will ease those fears.