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Manchester United beat West Brom 1-0 at Old Trafford thanks to a penalty taken twice by Bruno Fernandes.
The victory moves the Red Devils to ninth place in the table, yet the Baggies remain in the relegation zone and have yet to win this season.
Sportsmail governs the rule on the performances of both teams …
MANCHESTER UNITED (4-2-3-1):
David De Gea – 7
A solid night for De Gea, the Spaniard made two quality saves to keep his clean sheet
He had to save a first half, from Grant, and he did well and did the same from Townsend shortly after the restart.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka -5
Easy going for once and when he did, he was way out of position when Robinson hit the bar for the visitors.
Victor Lindelof – 6
Better visualization than lately with a couple of timely challenges and good positional decision making.
Harry Maguire – 6
A couple of very good early challenges, one of which set up a counter but caught by the “penalty” Albion won and was later denied.
Alex Telles – 6
Alex Telles was solid, if not spectacular, in his Premier League debut for Manchester United
First test of Premier League football and he looked solid defensively. However, it failed to make an impact in the future.
Nemanja Matic – 6
Calm as usual, he chose the simple options and read the game well without leaving a major mark on the procedures.
Fred – 6
He did a lot of the search and transport that kept United in possession, but lacked the vision to make an impact.
Juan Mata – 5
It was supposed to add much-needed creativity, but despite a couple of neat touches, it was obvious that the first man substituted.
Bruno Fernandes – 8
Lucky to escape a penalty call for a trip to Gallagher and doubly lucky with United’s own penalty. But he is still easily his best player.
Marcus Rashford – 6
A quiet night for Marcus Rashford, however the 23-year-old was close with a first-half effort
Calm first half but close to opening the scoring with a clever and skillful shot shortly after the restart.
Anthony Martial – 5
One threat, but two good chances were saved by Johnstone when he expected to score.
Subs
Edinson Cavani by Mata 63 – 6
Donny van de Beek by Rashford 79 – 6
Scott McTominay for Fred 84
Subs (not used) James, Henderson, Williams, Tuanzebe.
West brom (5–3-2):
Sam Johnstone – 9
Sam Johnstone had the bad luck that his initial penalty saved from Bruno Fernandes was in the vein
Two good early saves from Martial and two later from Rashford sent him back to Old Trafford to remember. Unlucky with his “save” penalty.
Darnell Furlong – 6
An animated couple of minutes in which he was about to prepare the opener for Townsend and then he gave away the killer penalty.
Semi Ajayi – 6
Good performance in the middle of defense, but a slip almost gave Rashford a goal.
Kyle Bartley – 7
He was bravely shot in the face by Maguire, summing up Albion’s defensive spirit. Skipper led by example.
Branislav Ivanovic – 7
Ivanovic was one of West Brom’s best players on a frustrating night for the Baggies
The veteran threatened from the first corner and used his experience to compensate for an obvious lack of pace against United sprinters.
Conor Townsend – 5
He was on the alert for a clever defense that denied Martial a scoring opportunity and then nearly opened the scoring after the restart.
Matheus Pereira – 5
A clever pass set Grant up for Albion’s best opportunity of the first half, but he didn’t see enough ball to sway much more.
Roman Sawyers – 7
Four was grafted in front of his back and needed given the amount of possession and pace United had.
Conor Gallagher – 8
Lively display, good set pieces and penalty won, only for the VAR to rule it out.
Grady Diangana – 5
Diangana put on a laborious display for the visiting team, but rarely threatened United’s goal
It covered a lot of ground in support of Grant, but ran out of steam and replaced after an hour.
Karlan Grant – 5
Baggies’ best chance of the first half fell on him and forced De Gea to make a good save.
Subs
Hal Robson-Kanu by Diangana 62-5
Callum Robinson for Grant 62 – 7
Filip Krovinovic by Ivanovic 79-5
Subs (not used) Button, Phillips, Harper, O’Shea.
Referee: D Coote 7
