Louis van Gaal and his men were eager to make amends for their disappointing 3-0 defeat at the hands of Everton last weekend, and they looked to rectify that with a world-class performance at home against a tough test in the form of West Brom at Old Trafford, in Saturday's evening kick-off.
The match started off relatively slowly and gradually the pace of the game increased as the clock ticked on. Both sides tried to establish a foothold in the game, and United showed flashes of individual brilliance, but were unable to settle themselves into the game quickly enough, as the Baggies did well to press a high line and add an attacking impetus that the hosts were unable to stop completely in the early stages.
Ashley Young almost broke the deadlock in the 12th minute at the end of what would have been a well-taken solo effort, after weaving his way past the WBA backline, he curled a shot goalwards, but it was deflected out for a corner-kick as a result of an outstretched leg.
Former Manchester City centre-back Joleon Lescott headed a power strike towards goal at the other end just a minute or two later, but David de Gea was equal to the strike, as United kept the scores level at nil-nil. Robin van Persie was then denied on two occasions; first a snapshot on the edge of the area was parried into the path of a team-mate, which eventually trickled out for a corner-kick, before his second effort was smothered by goalkeeper Boaz Myhill, as the hosts began to up the intensity of the match in their favour.
Just a few minutes later Young fired in a low cross towards the box for van Persie to latch onto, and the experienced Dutchman's effort was not far wide at all. His shot flashed inches wide of the goalpost, hitting the side netting on the way out.
Lescott saw another of his headers fire goalwards from another West Brom set-piece, but this time, his strike hit the top of the side netting above the crossbar after he did well initially to skip past his marker in the box, but put too much elevation on his headed effort.
A succession of blocks pinned the visitors firmly in their own area as two corner-kicks were delivered into the box, but Tony Pulis' men did well to clear the danger on both occasions, before winning a free-kick in their own half to take a slight breather from United's attacking onslaught.
As the first-half drew to a close, United continued to up the intensity, but the scores stayed level at 0-0 as the referee blew his whistle for the half-time interval. Herrera took an audacious effort with a scissor kick from range, Juan Mata's teasing delivery was almost converted but for a last-ditch header clear, and that was it.
The first-half stats were in the hosts' favour, but they had nothing to show for it at the break. Dominated possession, with an eyewatering 77.5% recorded, but did not create many goal-scoring opportunities and van Persie was United's only real bright spark; making his first start since February following an injury-laden past few months.
The second-half picked up from where United left off, playing with a high attacking intensity and trying to force West Brom into making a mistake to break the deadlock. van Persie came close once more with a shot on the edge of the box, before Marouane Fellaini was denied a debatable penalty decision by referee Anthony Taylor after being clipped by Craig Gardner inside the box.
A set-piece in the 63rd minute resulted in the opening goal of the game, in bizarre fashion. West Brom broke the deadlock after a thunderous effort deflected off defender Marcus Olsson, swerving away from de Gea into the corner of the net within a flash. The goal was initially credited to Chris Brunt, who took the shot, but replays showed it would not have gone in, if the shot did not take a deflection as big as it did in the end.
The referee then made a controversial decision, awarding a penalty-kick to the hosts after a cross was blocked by the hand of Saido Berahino inches away from the penalty area, on the edge of the box itself as oppoed to the actual area. van Persie stepped up, and after some rather un-subtle mind-games were played by the West Brom players in an attempt to put the Dutch striker off, his low spot-kick drive was parried away to safety by Myhill - who made a good diving stop to deny him from scoring the equaliser. Angel di María was brought into the action, whilst young centre-back Paddy McNair saw a headed effort at the near post flash wide of goal.
With fifteen minutes left to play, Chris Baird came on in place of Youssouf Mulumbu, who did his job efficiently in the heart of midfield. The hosts continued to press, as Radamel Falcao was introduced into the fray with ten minutes left, as a last resort for van Gaal's side to get themselves in the game.
Myhill made another succession of fantastic stops to deny United, first to stop van Persie from range after an inch-perfect half-volley swerved low towards the far post, but for him to parry away. Then, he did well with a fingertip save to stop di María's ambitious drive towards goal.
United's onslaught of pressure eventually was stopped, as the referee blew his whistle to end the game - with a chorus of boos ringing around the Theatre of Dreams. Three consecutive defeats for United in the Premier League, for the first time since December 2001 (source: Opta), giving Liverpool slight hope of a UEFA Champions League qualification place with three games left to play.
The Baggies meanwhile, were victors and deserved to be, after a solid all-round performance from all of their players, even despite United's many spells of attacking pressure.
Player Ratings:
| Manchester United (0) | West Brom (1) | ||
 |  |  |  |
| de Gea | 6 | Myhill | 10 |
| Valencia | 6 | Dawson | 7 |
| Smalling | 7 | McAuley | 7.5 |
| McNair | 6.5 | Olsson | 8 |
| Blind | 6 | Lescott | 7.5 |
| Herrera | 7 | Gardner | 6 |
| Fellaini | 6.5 | Yacob | 7.5 |
| Mata | 6.5 | Fletcher | 7 |
| Rooney | 5.5 | Mulumbu | 6.5 |
| Young | 7 | Brunt | 6.5 |
| van Persie | 7 | Berahino | 6 |
| Substitutes: | |||
| di María | 6.5 | Ideye | 6 |
| Falcao | - | Baird | 6 |
| Wisdom | - | ||