West Brom vs. Manchester United: Score, Reaction from 2016 Premier League Match

West Bromwich Albion beat Manchester United 1-0 at the Hawthorns on Sunday after Juan Mata was sent off in the first half for the Red Devils.

The Spaniard committed two bookable offences in as many minutes, leaving United with over an hour to play with 10 men. Salomon Rondon scored the decisive goal midway through the second half.

Aside from the sending off, the match was a largely tedious affair with the visitors failing to impress going forward—even with a full complement of players—and the hosts rarely creating clear-cut chances at the other end.

Squawka Football and football writer Liam Canning revealed the extent of United's worrying form after the defeat:

United took control of the game in the early stages; though, aside from a 25-yard effort from Anthony Martial that was easily dealt with by Ben Foster, they created little. 

At the other end, Craig Dawson headed high from inside the penalty spot after being picked out well by a Rondon cross.

The Baggies came close with another headed effort when Gareth McAuley flashed one across goal as he met Craig Gardner's free-kick, though he was perhaps harshly adjudged to be offside at any rate.

In the 24th minute, Mata was given a pointless booking for encroaching on another West Brom free-kick, and that proved costly when two minutes later he caught Darren Fletcher with a wild swing of his leg and tripped him, earning the first sending off of his career.

Michael Regan/Getty Images

Stuart Mathieson and Rob Dawson the Manchester Evening News held differing views on the incident:

Luckily for United, the red card did little to galvanise the hosts, who struggled to capitalise.

Indeed, as Mathieson noted, the nature of the game barely changed in the wake of United's setback, while Dawson believed the Red Devils had cause for optimism:

Mata's absence did have an effect early in the second half, though, when Marcus Rashford burst forward down the left flank, only to find a lack of options to cross to. The youngster had a half-chance moments later when the ball fell for him 18 yards out, but his shot was well blocked by Jonas Olsson.

Jesse Lingard fired a powerful effort narrowly over, but moments of excitement for either side were few and far between until Rondon broke the deadlock on 66 minutes.

Sebastien Pocognoli found space on the left and picked out Rondon in the area. The Venezuelan cushioned the ball down marvelously before tucking it past David De Gea, per Sky Sports Football:

Squawka Football hailed the 26-year-old's finishing, while Mathieson took issue with United's slack defending:

United struggled to muster anything resembling a response to the setback and indeed were arguably fortunate not to give away a penalty shortly after conceding when Rondon was sanctioned for backing into Daley Blind, when it appeared the Dutchman had in fact fouled him.

Memphis Depay was brought on for Rashford, but Louis van Gaal made a more unusual decision in the 82nd minute to bring on youngster Tim Fosu-Mensah, per Dawson:

The visitors' attempts to find an equaliser ended not with a bang, but a whimper, as they failed to threaten West Brom at all in the later stages of the game.

The Red Devils face the in-form West Ham United in their next league outing, for which they will be missing Mata, in between UEFA Europa League clashes with Liverpool.

A repeat performance against the Hammers or the Reds would invite yet more pressure on United boss Van Gaal, whose side showed on Sunday they've not yet turned a corner.

Post-Match Reaction

Van Gaal highlighted Mata's sending off as the key moment in the match, per Sky Sports News HQ:

According to Jonathan Jurejko of BBC Sport, West Brom manager Tony Pulis also picked out the Spaniard's sending off and praised Rondon:

"

Them going down to 10 men affected the game. We watched Liverpool go down to 10 before this game and they won 2-1. You're never comfortable against top teams with pace up front and they have pace. Once we got the goal we kind of settled down.

Second half we were definitely off the pace a bit but the goal was a smashing finish [by Rondon]. It has taken him time to settle in and he has had ups and downs but they love him to death here.

"