And here is our match report:
Three wins in a row have lifted Man Utd to be level on points with Spurs, who play Burnley on Sunday, and three points behind Man City. West Brom remain seventh but there is now a significant gap – seven points – to the top six. That’s all from me, thanks for reading. Bye!
Full-time: West Brom 0-2 Manchester United
United finish the game as they played much of the first half, in control of the ball. The second half was very scrappy but Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s deflected strike sealed the points.
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90+1 min Chris Smalling is sent on for the final moments, replacing Ander Herrera. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is awarded man of the match.
88 min Leko shows a lovely turn of pace on the touchline before crossing but West Brom are outnumbered in the United box. Then the most cynical foul of the season – Rashford knocks the ball past Chris Brunt on the right wing, and the full-back quickly decides the chase would be a futile and humiliating assignment and instead clatters Rashford to the floor with his shoulder. Yellow card.
86 min The visiting fans are in great spirits and are singing Fellaini’s name.
84 min Wayne Rooney is the player to make way for Fellaini.
82 min Marouane Fellaini is preparing himself for action. This one’s not over yet.
80 min On BT Sport, Owen Hargreaves describes Man Utd’s performance as “exceptional”. I’m not sure about that but they have certainly been the better side. West Brom will make a couple changes: Hal Robson-Kanu replaces Matt Phillips and talented teenager Jonathan Leko takes over from Nacer Chadli.
78 min Rashford pinches the ball and zooms away from everyone. He cuts in from the right but runs into traffic around the West Brom box and is forced backwards. Even so, he has ended a spell of home pressure.
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76 min United have had to defend plenty of high balls, particularly in this second period, and they’ve done it pretty well. Here comes Marcus Rashford off the bench, replacing Jesse Lingard who had a pretty strong game bar his miss just before the break.
75 min The persistent fouls are making this second half a rough watch. Darmian trips Nyom this time, and West Brom will have another chance to deliver from wide.
73 min Craig Dawson is replaced by James Morrison for West Brom. It looks like Chris Brunt will drop back to left-back and Nyom will shift over to the right.
71 min The corner is swung deep towards McAuley who tries to bump a header back across goal but it strikes Pogba. A few shouts for handball but Anthony Taylor is unmoved.
70 min Dawson’s cross is blocked by Rooney. Corner to West Brom, and The Hawthorns is finding its voice.
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68 min Pogba tries a long-range effort but crashes his shot into the ground which takes the pace off and it’s easy enough for Foster to gather.
65 min Pogba is penalised for a little barge on Dawson and West Brom swing a free-kick into the centre, but Rojo climbs highest and heads the danger clear.
63 min It’s all kicking off. Rondón and Rojo get themselves a silly squabble and Phil Jones piles in, as do several others. Anthony Taylor dishes out yellows to the former pair.
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61 min Rondón dribbles down the right at four or five red shirts and somehow manages to poke a pass out of the crowd to Phillips running beyond him, but the winger is called offside just as he thought he was in.
58 min A free-kick to West Brom wide on the left, but first Jesse Lingard is booked for refusing to step away from the ball. Pointless. Eventually Brunt unfurls one of those glorious deliveries but McAuley can’t aim his header on target.
GOAL! West Brom 0-2 Manchester United (Ibrahimovic, 56 min)
Rooney drives in from the left and finds Ibrahimovic on the corner of the box. The striker cuts inside with a quick scoop between two defenders before firing a heavily deflected shot past a wrong-footed Ben Foster from 18 yards.
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55 min Pogba tries to catch Foster off his line with a chip from 40 yards, but he doesn’t find the required height.
54 min Rooney brings the ball out of the sky beautifully near the byline and forces a corner under some pressure. The delivery is less impressive and West Brom come away.
52 min Ibrahimovic is penalised for a foul on Olsson on the edge of the West Brom box which seemed like it could have gone either way. Zlatan has been in a brutal battle all game with this West Brom defence.
50 min Craig Dawson is booked for a late tackle on Ibrahimovic.
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49 min A frustrated Rondón boots the loose ball from the halfway line back to his own goalkeeper after tussling with Phil Jones and missing out on a free-kick. The striker hasn’t had a lot of joy so far.
47 min West Brom toss a free-kick into the box but United deal with it and pump the ball forwards.
Second half!
Zlatan gets the ball rolling.
Some half-time correspondence:
“Tribal fans dislike being called detractors of their own sons,” emails Bharat Tiwari, who emailed pre-match with a dig at Lingard. “Especially as I’ve pumped for him since he was knocking them in for fun in the academy. But that miss from Jesse in a crucial juncture is what I meant when I said that his inexperience brings a lack of composure at times. But I’ve been delighted with his work so far, the yahoo from 8 yards notwithstanding. The pass for the goal was laser guided and his link up play has been joyfulness itself. The break out he calmly handled at 43’ was super too.”
“Utd are so dominant it is stupid,” emails Philip Brennan. “It’ll probably end one all.”
“Regarding this whole ‘Paul Pogba not worth the price they paid’ thing,” emails Mark Turner, “I’d like to add that Pogba isn’t worth the price they paid. Silky skillz etc, but being bossed by aggressive Baggies midfielders impresses nobody.” I’m not sure I’ve seen him be bossed, except for a moment when he was caught on the ball towards the end of the half. United’s midfield looked pretty classy for much of it and Pogba was at the centre.
Half-time: West Brom 0-1 Manchester United
Ibrahimovic’s early header hands United the advantage at the break.
43 min Lingard wastes a glorious opportunity which falls to him a little fortuitously when Darmian’s mis-hit shot lands in his path. Lingard takes a touch and finds himself through on goal, but lashes the bouncing ball high over the bar from eight yards.
41 min Ibrahimovic wins a good header but there’s no support to pick up the second ball and West Brom’s defenders take it away. The striker is left standing on his own up front, hands on hips.
39 min West Brom get the better of a slightly chaotic passage and deliver a couple of dangerous crosses, but can’t quite carve out a clear opportunity.
37 min Matt Phillips tries a long-range effort but drags it a few yards wide.
35 min Play briefly stops as Herrera takes a thwack in a sensitive area.
33 min The visitors pump a couple of long balls forward which come to not a lot. A third from Pogba finds Lingard’s chest and United move forwards until Valencia is found carelessly offside.
31 min Finally a cross aimed at Salomón Rondón and it’s a wonderful delivery by Matt Phillips from the left. He picks out the striker in between two defenders and the header from eight yards drifts over De Gea, and just a fraction beyond the far post.
29 min United’s midfield are back on the ball and in control. Ibrahimovic drops deep to get involved and tries to feed Rooney running beyond the defence, but Foster rushes out and takes it from the United captain’s toes.
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27 min Dawson does now attempt a cross, but it’s blocked by Darmian. Dawson takes the throw-in short and West Brom work it inside to Brunt who crunches a half-volley from 20 yards towards De Gea’s near post, but the goalkeeper gets low and holds on to it.
25 min Salomón Rondón scored three headers from crosses in his last match, so it is odd that the Baggies haven’t tried harder to deliver to him from wide areas.
23 min Ibrahimovic clatters into Dawson in the air and The Hawthorns is furious. Anthony Taylor strides on to the scene and, to the general disappointment of the home support, dishes out only a yellow card.
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22 min Brilliant football. Rooney passes inside from the left touchline to Pogba who slips in Lingard sprinting into the box. The winger turns and picks out Rooney, now arriving on the edge of the area, who takes a touch before crashing a shot which is touched on to the bar by Ben Foster.
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19 min Some more neat passing in United’s midfield with Lingard, Rooney and Herrera all interchanging positions but the final ball is lacking.
17 min Carrick, Pogba and Herrera take the chance to get their collective foot on the ball and move United upfield. The buildup is steady and patient – until that patience runs out a long punt towards Ibrahimovic is intercepted.
15 min Ibrahimovic, standing a full 10 yards offside, receives a pass and looks up to see the linesman holding his flag down by his side. Zlatan can’t believe his luck but, as if he’s being lightly mocked, the flag goes up as soon as the forward gets his head down to take a shot. Strange.
13 min Replays shows Zlatan gave McAuley a little tug back just before the goal which left one or two West Brom players unhappy with the referee, Anthony Taylor. A tough one to spot, though.
11 min Brunt swings a teasing corner into the six-yard box and Olsson gets a flick on it, but there’s no player in blue and white to tap the ball home at the back post and it runs away harmlessly.
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10 min Despite the early United goal, West Brom have had much of the possession so far and they continue to look the more settled of the two sides in midfield. Dawson pokes a ball down the right for Brunt arriving on the edge of the box, whose cross is well-blocked by Rojo. Corner to West Brom, which Brunt will take himself.
9 min Wayne Rooney is sporting a terrific beard at the moment rich with auburn notes, but it seems it’s not for everyone.
@LawrenceOstlere Why cant Mourinho give a game to Depay on the left wing instead of Rooney once?
— Darshil Shastri (@darshil_219) December 17, 2016
7 min That was all a bit simple for Manchester United and Tony Pulis must be frustrated that his plans have been undone so quickly.
GOAL! West Brom 0-1 Manchester United (Ibrahimovic, 5 min)
Jesse Lingard confounds his earlier doubters on email, bursting down the right-hand side on to a long ball and swinging in a perfect cross on the half-volley for Zlatan Ibrahimovic arriving at the far post, who puts a simple header past Ben Foster from six yards.
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2 min Brunt tries to lash a shot at goal from 25 yards and has his shot blocked by Carrick. A moment later Chadli has a try from 30, but it sails high over De Gea’s crossbar.
Kick-off!
West Brom get things under way and they go straight on the attack, pinning United back into their half.
Former team-mates Wayne Rooney and Darren Fletcher lead the teams out at The Hawthorns to Sandstorm by Darude. Classic Pulis.
“He’s our academy boy and all,” emails Bharat Tiwari, “but Jesse still doesn’t inspire enough confidence despite his FA cup heroics. Wonder if his pace over Mata’s string-pulling and understated ball winning can do us any favours. Man, the Danny Rose tackle hit us BAD.”
Christopher Dale emails: “There’s something deeply wrong about a world where Fellaini is still inflicting his hirsute incompetence on United fans after three and a half awful seasons, while Darren Fletcher lines up for West Brom.” Fellaini is on the bench today ready to spring into action whenever the Baggies need him.
José Mourinho also mutters something from beneath his hooded cloak about needing to rotate his team, but not too much because they are playing well. On BT Sport, La Galaxy legend Steven Gerrard is in the studio and predicts a Manchester United win.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic speaks! He is asked if he needs to be rested. “You know what, I’m here to play and I want to play. As a football player you get blind sometimes, you have to listen to your body, but in my mind I feel like a 20-year-old boy. I will keep playing as long as the team needs me.”
West Brom fan Tom Levesley emails: “Can we call this a six-pointer?” Let’s hope that is the first question is asked in José Mourinho’s pre-match interview.
Tony Pulis speaks! “[James] Morrison’s played six or seven games consecutively and looked a little tired against Swansea. He can do the last half an hour if we need that. We had six days to really nail down what we wanted to do on the training pitch [against Chelsea but] we haven’t had that this time. They’ve got some really, really good players but we just want to enjoy the game.”
There’s some late goal drama in the Premier League’s 3pm GMT kick-offs. You can follow the action right here with Barry Glendenning’s live updates:
So James Morrison drops to the West Brom bench as Craig Dawson returns to the side following suspension, which means Chris Brunt’s crossing prowess will be shunted further up the pitch. Brunt will be up against Antonio Valencia who returns to United’s side at right-back, while Matteo Darmian starts in place of Daley Blind at left-back and Juan Mata gives way for Jesse Lingard in midfield. Anthony Martial remains on the bench, and we all know what he thinks of that...
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The teams!
West Brom: Foster; Dawson, McAuley, Olsson, Nyom; Yacob, Fletcher; Brunt, Chadli, Phillips; Rondon
Subs: Myhill, Robson-Kanu, Morrison, Gardner, McClean, Galloway, Leko
Manchester United: De Gea; Valencia, Jones, Rojo, Darmian; Carrick, Herrera; Lingard, Pogba, Rooney; Ibrahimovic.
Subs: Romero, Blind, Smalling, Fellaini, Mata, Martial, Rashford
Preamble
After the unpredictability of last season’s bewildering Premier League season, the usual candidates have gathered at the top in a strike back for good ol’ conformity. At least when we look back on all this, Leicester’s singular act of rebellion will stand out as the truly remarkable triumph that it was.
There is a now little gap between the top six and the rest, with Manchester United and West Brom standing on either side of the divide. A couple of back-to-back wins have United sixth while the Baggies have blindsided all of us to pitch up in seventh, an achievement based on their newfound ability to score goals and plenty of them. Matt Phillips, Chris Brunt, James Morrison and heading sensation Salomón Rondón all appear to be playing close to their best, although how they respond today when Marcos Rojo delivers his weekly two-footer remains to be seen.
Horror tackles aside, Rojo has helped form the basis of United’s newfound ability to keep out late goals, his recovery pace complementing the frontline head it and clear it work of Phil Jones. It is difficult to give José Mourinho huge credit for a defensive partnership he stumbled across but the manager seems finally to have his team moulded in something close to his ideals. He has a point when he gripes that United could and should have won several of their six league draws, games in which they totalled 36 shots on target to their opponents’ 19.
United will get another stiff test here against the side who have come closer than any other to stopping Chelsea’s winning run, and against a manger in Tony Pulis who has a good record against Mourinho. West Brom are on a roll, and they could take a significant chunk out of that gap above them with a win at The Hawthorns today.
Kick-off: 5.30pm GMT
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