A deflected Chris Brunt free-kick off Jonas Olsson was enough to hand West Brom a 1-0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford.
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The Red Devils suffered their third consecutive defeat – following losses to Chelsea and Everton – despite largely dominating a fairly uneventful match.
United fans paid respect to their former captain Rio Ferdinand early on, a standing ovation and chants of ‘Rio, Rio’ filled Old Trafford as a salute to the defender whose wife tragically died of cancer yesterday.
Robin van Persie had the first real chance of the afternoon, a corner ricocheting through his way. He controlled it with his right before fluffing a shot with his left that went well wide.
In what was a fairly tumultuous game and forgettable first half, West Brom took a shock lead after 62 minutes.
The free-kick was in a dangerous position and Chris Brunt’s strike took a nick off the wall, and Jonas Olsson, to canon straight into the top left corner.
He didn’t know much about it but they all count and West Brom were up 1-0.
Just ten minutes laters and United had a golden opportunity to get back in it.
Berahinho handled the ball – though it must be said it was an incredibly close cross that was near impossible for him to avoid – and RvP had a chance to salvage something from the spot.
But Myhill was more than equal to it, got down low to his left and pushed it away.
United peppered the goal late on with chances for McNair, van Persie and Di Maria but none could get past the indomitable Myhill. A real standout performance from the American.
The result means United lose their third game in a row but still sit comfortably enough in the Champions League spots. Liverpool will certainly have regrets if they fail to make the top-four on the back of these results for the Red Devils.
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