Solksjaer Faces Further Criticism After Unconvincing Win

United went into the fixture with one of the worst home records in the division, having failed to register any win at the Theatre of Dreams since the commencement of the new season, with a 1-6 humiliating defeat against Spurs aptly encapsulating United’s woeful outing at home this season.

West Brom had frustrated United over the course of the early exchanges and looked to have been rewarded for their disciplined performance early in the second half when David Coote awarded Slaven Bilic’s men a penalty after Bruno Fernandes had been deemed to have brought down Conor Gallagher in the box; but, on the prompting of his VAR colleagues, the referee took a close look at his monitor and overturned his earlier decision.

United managed to break the deadlock through a retaken penalty from Fernandes early in the second half, moments after West Brom had seen their own penalty decision quashed.

The Portuguese had flunked his first attempt, only for technology to intervene in United’s favour once more. West Brom goalie, Sam Johnstone had charged off his line to make the save, giving Fernandes a second chance to bury his re-take.

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The Norwegian’s tactics also came into serious questioning after he opted to adopt a rather cautious approach to a fixture at Old Trafford against a struggling side, with the manager opting for two defensive players in midfield: Fred and Nemanja Matic.

Of course, it didn’t help that Martial and Rashford looked off-colour anyway. United academy graduate Sam Johnstone pulled off a few fine saves to keep both at bay, but they didn’t perform anywhere near their best.

Having arrived United with a lofty reputation, it didn’t also help that Donny Van de Beek, who has shown in his cameos what he is capable of with his defence-splitting passes, an eye for goal, quick movement and clever passing was once again left out of the starting line-up, much to the chagrin of many United fans.

While the only positive for United would be the three points which moves them up to 9th, above Manchester City, United fans have played down the merit of the win on the premise that this was once again a performance that provided more questions than answers.