Albion 1-2 Man. United

This was considered a game where, for once, West Bromwich Albion could give themselves a chance against Premier League heavyweights Manchester United. After beating Everton and Arsenal on the road whilst picking up a point at Old Trafford in October, the Baggies could be forgiven for thinking of causing another upset, and with the Red Devils only having one away win all season (less than Roberto Di Matteo's men), a shock win would shoot West Brom out of relegation trouble.

ALBION (4-2-3-1): Carson; S Reid (Zuiverloon 64), Scharner, Ibanez (Tchoyi 71), Cech; Mulumbu (Fortuné 90+4), Dorrans; Morrison, Brunt, Thomas; Odemwingie. Subs not used: Myhill (gk), Miller, Shorey, Cox.

UNITED (4-4-2): Kuszczak; Neville (Fabio 71), Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Obertan (Gibson 61), Fletcher, Carrick, Anderson; Berbatov (Hernandez 61), Rooney. Subs not used: Amos (gk), Owen, Evans, Bebe.

However it was United who took the early initiative. Patrice Evra made a run along the left hand flank where he picked the ball up from Obertan, who was filling in for the mercifully injured Nani. Evra then whipped in a cross which was met by the head of Wayne Rooney. The England striker half-heartedly (or so it seemed) knocked the ball towards goal and somehow managed to squeeze it past the diving Carson.

 0-1 with only a couple of minutes played, versus Manchester United, and heads could easily have dropped. But they didn't, and credit to Albion for making a fist of it. They pushed at the United defence, the 5-man midfield overrunning their opposition's 4. Their reward came ten minutes later, when a long ball which was contested by Nemanja Vidic and Peter Odemwingie fell to the feet of James Morrison. First time, he volleyed the ball past the helpless Tomasz Kuszcack, not unlike his first goal for the club against Blackpool three years previously. This lifted the home crowd immensely, feeling there really was a chance for them to take something from this game.

And there really should have been a chance- from the penalty spot. James Morrison caused mayhem in the United penalty area with a stunning diagonal ball right onto the chest of Graham Dorrans, who bore down on goal. Gary Neville then clearly chopped down the Scot from behind, which under any circumstances would usually resulted in a red card and a penalty. As Chris Foy claimed he saw nothing, Neville escaped and Albion rued a refereeing mistake which would have presented them with a golden opportunity to take the lead.

Albion WERE given a penalty in the second half however. Foy correctly pointed to the spot as Rio Ferdinand was adjudged to have brought down Jerome Thomas, who had looked a threat against the ageing Neville throughout the first half. However, top scorer Peter Odemwingie fired horribly wide, which cost Albion a precious point. For with only a matter of minutes to go, Rooney, by far the Red Devils' best player, whipped in a corner which was planted right on super sub Javier Hernandez's head. The Little Pea, on for the average Dimitar Berbatov, took advantage of poor marking and headed home past Scott Carson from a matter of yards. Poor defending had cost the Baggies dearly, a result which their performance had thoroughly deserved and which handed Man United only their second away win of the season.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/9332321.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_bromwich_albion/9332316.stm