This season Manchester United have found a way to make opponent goalkeepers look like heroes. Willingly or unwillingly, every goalkeeper that has faced United this season particularly at Old Trafford, has pulled out a match winning performance. And so was the case with ex-united keeper Ben Foster. Foster and his team played some gritty and at times boring football to take away a point from the Theatre of Dreams.
United started the match on the front foot and played literally the whole game in their opponents half. But sadly the scoreline does not reflect it. Tony Pulis set up his side to defend. And defense they did. For the whole 90 minutes. Apart from that one Darren Fletcher shot which caught David De Gea napping, West Brom never moved out of their own half.
United had a lot of first-team absentees. Zlatan and Herrera were both suspended. Smalling Jones and Pogba were missing due to injuries. With such a big injury list Mourinho decided to play Fellaini and Carrick in midfield. And to be honest they did a fair enough job. It was the attacking bit that was Mourinho’s headache.
United had a front three of Rashford, Martial, and Lingard who were supported by Mkhitaryan. Mkhitaryan looked blunt both in possession and finishing. He missed two fine opportunities to give United the lead. And ultimately he was substituted by Wayne Rooney towards the end of the match. The front three pulled out some great moments of magic during the match, only to be denied by Ben Foster. The shining light for United was definitely Lingard who made some great runs and put in some great crosses. Particularly in the first half, he looked like the only player who could make a difference.
Foster made some heroic saves during the match. Most notably during the dying minutes when he acrobatically kept out a Rashford freekick. He made another fine save from a Martial shot during the match. Tony Pulis will be proud of how his defensive line held on all throughout the match. It is not easy to defend for the full 90 minutes and not lose your concentration. And the way his side played, this will feel nothing short of a victory for Tony Pulis.
To be very honest, United’s defense had nothing much to do other than the occasional blocks and clearances.
Mourinho was not particularly happy after this match and he hit out at a journalist. His anger is very much understandable as his team has now lost 19 points at home this season. And if such a flow of draws continues then winning the Europa League will be his best bet for entering the Champions League.
