Manchester City have been crowned the Champions of England in the most uneventful and unexpected manner possible after last weekend’s 2-3 loss to Manchester United. The Red Devils lost against West Brom tonight by 1 goals to nil at Old Trafford in inexcusable fashion.
They were simply far too complacent against the bottom-most club in the Premier League and were punished in deserved fashion.
The Baggies took up a defensive approach and attacked only on the counter and by supplying balls from the flanks. Jay Rodriguez cleared a path through the midfield and set up Rondon on the edge of the box, who in turn passed it off to the on-rushing Jake Livermore. The midfielder cut inside but could not get the ball out of his foot to really challenge David De Gea.
Manchester United could not formulate any clear chances other than the occasional lobbed ball towards Romelu Lukaku.
And in the 73rd minute, Albion broke the deadlock through on of their corner kicks. Craig Dawson towered over Antonio Valencia and squared the ball in with his head. Rodriguez’s gamble off charging towards the six-yard box paid off as he connected the ball with his head perfectly and uncontested. 0-1
Jose Mourinho’s team threw the kitchen sink at the visitors but could not manage an equaliser. Allan Nyom did just enough to stop Chris Smalling’s far post header in the dying minutes.
The contest ended with the Baggies holding onto hopes of a relegation survival and showing their fans that they care enough.
Here is how the West Brom players were rated on the night.
Ben Foster – 7/10
Made a tremendous stop to one of Lukaku’s well-struck headers and showed why he was once a Manchester United player.
Ahmed Hegazi – 7/10
Read the backdoor runs of Mata and Lingard and cleared the lines quite well.
Craig Dawson – 8/10
A solid body on both ends of the pitch. His teammates could not convert his first laid off effort but the second one registered as an assist to Rodriguez. Made life hard for the physical Lukaku.
Kieran Gibbs – 6/10
Was tasked with keeping the defensive shape and he did remarkably well against the adventurous Antonio Valencia.
Allan Nyom – 6/10
Always going to be a tough night with Alexis Sanchez on his side but the 29-year-old held his own for the most part.
Jake Livermore – 6/10
Had the best chance for his team but scuffed it. Impactful defensively but not enough with his passing.
Chris Brunt – 7/10
Might just be better suited on the wide areas but he did as required. Tracked the United midfield and laid his body on the line in front of his own goal.
James McClean – 7/10
Did the needful by delivering balls inside the opposition box.
Matt Philips – 4/10
Not good enough. Looked far too passive with possession and a horror show of a night with his crossing.
Jay Rodriguez – 9/10
Created the best scoring opportunities for his team by running at the United defence and quite deservedly got the goal.
Salomon Rondon – 5/10
Mostly relegated to chasing the opposition players and trying to create something out of the loose balls.
Substitutes:
Grzegorz Krychowiak – NA
Daniel Sturridge – NA
Claudio Yacob – NA
