Manchester
United were made to pay for Juan Mata's early sending-off in a 1-0
loss to West Bromwich Albion on Sunday that damaged their ambitions
of Champions League qualification from the Premier League.
Mata
collected two yellow cards in three minutes to leave his side with 10
men from the 26th minute and United couldn't hold on, with Salomon
Rondon scoring the winning goal in the 66th at The Hawthorns.
The
loss ended United's run of four straight wins in all competitions and
left the team sixth in the standings - three points behind
fourth-place Manchester City, who have a game in hand.
United
initially coped well with Mata's first-ever Premier League dismissal
but failed to seriously threaten West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster.
West
Brom finished the stronger and secured their first home win over
United in the Premier League era when Sebastien Pocognoli crossed
from the left toward Rondon, who controlled the ball and slammed a
left-footed shot into the corner from eight metres.
"(The
red card) changed the game because you have one less man in attacking
areas, which affected us on the break especially," United
captain Michael Carrick said. "They were not causing us many
problems but took their chance."
Mata
collected his first yellow card for blocking a quickly taken free
kick by Darren Fletcher, a former United player.
Fletcher
was then tripped by Mata as he attempted to run clear from his own
area, earning the Spain playmaker his first-ever Premier League
dismissal. The 27-year-old Spaniard joined Chelsea in 2011 and moved
to United in 2014.
"We
have played 60 minutes with 10 versus 11, and this is the fifth match
in 14 days," United manager Louis van Gaal said. "It's very
difficult to play against 11 players (in this situation). I think
it's the reason why we lost."
West
Brom moved to 39 points, one adrift of the target manager Tony Pulis
has set the team.
"As
you've seen this year, results have been off the radar (in the
Premier League)," Pulis said. "Let's get 40 points. I think
that's definitely safe."
0 comments:
Post a Comment