Man United Grind Out 1-0 Win Over West Brom as Fernandes and Fred Earn Decent Marks

Manchester United finally won a Premier League match at Old Trafford this season, beating West Brom 1-0 in a game the Manchester Evening News described as far from pretty. It was the second league win in a row for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side, who now face a busy stretch in which league fixtures and Champions League commitments have to be balanced.

The man the paper rated highest was David de Gea, who earned an 8. He got the finest of touches to tip Karlan Grant's deflected effort wide, and made one of his classic toe saves from Conor Townsend only seconds before United were awarded a penalty. Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof each got a 6. Lindelof showed no obvious sign of being hampered by his back problem and helped United to the clean sheet. Maguire was described as the only player who acted like a proper United player from start to finish, and he started the breakaway that Anthony Martial should have finished.

The penalty itself came from Juan Mata's cross, which was handled. Mata was rated 5, judged too passive too often in the first half, and he made way for Edinson Cavani on the hour. Bruno Fernandes, rated 6, took the spot kick, and the paper noted he was lucky twice: lucky not to have the penalty conceded stand, and lucky to be allowed to retake his saved effort. He had also set up Martial for an easy chance, but grew so frustrated that he withdrew into a deeper role.

The missed chances were the other half of the story. Marcus Rashford, back from injury and rusty, got a 4 for wasting a great opportunity to all but kill the game in the second half. Martial, rated 5, had an early header saved and squandered a gilt-edged chance soon after, and at times seemed to be going through the motions. Cavani, also given a 4, fluffed a good chance after coming on.

Elsewhere the marks were modest. Aaron Wan-Bissaka got a 5 for again being non-existent in attack despite West Brom's reticent approach; the verdict was that he simply does not do enough going forward. Alex Telles, on 6, took some time to adjust to the demands, had some loose moments, and his speculative shooting was awry. Fred, also 6, was tidy enough and tried to get United attacking but rarely played a memorable pass.

Nemanja Matic was rated 5. He suffered the indignity of a nutmeg but did little wrong; the problem, in the paper's view, was that United did not need two steely midfielders against the side sitting 18th. That pointed at the manager. Solskjaer got a 6 for overestimating West Brom by starting Matic alongside Fred, and for not changing things at half-time. Swapping Cavani for Mata was called an adventurous move.

The remaining substitutes were low-key: Donny van de Beek came on for the final 10 minutes and got a 5, and Scott McTominay replaced Fred to protect the lead, also a 5. With a win in hand but a chance count that should have produced more goals, the question for United is whether the finishing and midfield balance improve before the fixtures pile up.