Plenty of passing and possession but no end product against an opponent who parked the bus.Mata curled a shot inches wide, but otherwise United could not fathom a decent chance
Rooney and Bastian Schweinsteiger shot woefully wide.On the rare occasion United prised open West Brom's back four, McAuley and Jonny Evans were there to deny Rooney and Lingard.There was a brief moment of panic when David de Gea spilled Evans' header from a corner at the other end, but Marcos Rojo came to the rescue.The first chants of "attack, attack, attack" from the frustrated home support came from the Stretford End in the 39th minute and not until five minutes later did United to register a shot on target
Unfortunately for the home fans, Myhill easily saved Martial's effort.United enjoyed 76 per cent of possession in the first half, but they desperately needed a goal.Thankfully for them it came seven minutes after the restart
Chris Brunt's headed clearance landed at Lingard's feet
He took one touch before curling a perfectly-placed shot into the far corner.United started to play with more freedom
Lingard continued to run at the Albion defence while Rooney attempted to thread Martial in behind.Tony Pulis finally abandoned his defensive tactics and brought on Saido Berahino and Rickie Lambert.The move almost paid off when Craig Dawson found Berahino unmarked in the box, but he headed over
His manager was furious.Van Gaal, meanwhile, brought on 18-year-old Cameron Borthwick-Jackson on for his debut.Lingard was still very much the star of the show, however
The winger tricked his way past two defenders inside the Baggies box but could not make it past a third.Mata then sealed the win in injury time when Martial won a penalty after being brought down by McAuley
Dean sent the defender off and Mata beat the Baggies goalkeeper
Source : PA
Source: PA