Manchester United 0-1 West Bromwich Albion: Player Ratings as several key men guilty of under-performance in disappointing defeat

Manchester United suffered a shock 1-0 home defeat to West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

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Chris Brunt scored the only goal of the game as his powerful freekick deflected off Jonas Olsson and past David De Gea.

United had their chances to respond, but missed several chances.

The best came from the spot after Sadio Berahino handled in the box, but Robin van Persie saw his penalty saved by Boaz Myhill.

Here are the player ratings:

GK: David De Gea – 6
Didn’t have too much to do, and couldn’t prevent Brunt’s freekick from giving the Baggies the lead.

DR: Antonio Valencia – 6
Occasionally added to the numbers in attack for United, but was largely contained by the impressive Joleon Lescott.

CB: Bruce McNair – 5
Booked in the 62nd minute, and often struggled with Berahino—he gave away the freekick that led to the Albion’s goal.

CB: Chris Smalling – 6
An encouraging performance, Smalling looked good in possession and largely silenced the Throstles’ forwards

DL: Daley Blind – 7
Untroubled by Craig Gardner and neat with the ball at his feet, Blind was replaced by Angel Di Maria as United immediately after the goal as United sought a way back into the match.

LW: Ashley Young – 7
Possibly United’s best player, Young was a positive threat down the left in the first half, but faded after the break.

AMC: Marouane Fellaini – 6
Struggled to impose himself—either on the ground or in the air—and didn’t vindicate van Gaal’s decision to make him the lance of United’s attack, although he was markedly better than his fellow attacking midfielder Rooney.

CM: Ander Herrera – 6
The Spanish midfielder looks to have regressed recently and was disappointing again against West Bromwich. Several passes were over-hit—he was marshalled well by Claudio Yacob.

AMC: Wayne Rooney – 5
A very disappointing performance as Rooney failed to link up effectively with Robin van Persie and looked off the pace.

AMR: Juan Mata – 6
Composed in possession, but failed to penetrate the Baggies’ backline as much as Louis van Gaal would surely have expected.

ST: Robin van Persie – 5
A thoroughly underwhelming outing for van Persie, who still doesn’t look completely match sharp. Had a few efforts in the first half and missed the penalty which would have given the Red Devils a way back into the match.

Sub: Angel Di Maria – 3
A hopeless cameo from Di Maria, who irked the United fans with a series of aimless passes – is his unhappy spell at Old Trafford coming to an end?

Sub: Radamel Falcao – 4
An anonymous display from the second United flop – was easily dealt with by the Albion defenders.