TRDS Player Rating vs WBA (Away)

Tomasz Kuszczak: 6
The Polish international made a start for United after a long time. Could do nothing about Morrison's goal of the season contender strike. Had very little to do in the second half.

Gary Neville: 5
The LEGEND is sadly past his glory days. Looked out of sorts in his 400th premier league appearance. Lucky not to be Red Carded in the first half after a rash challenge inside the penalty box. Though, was found giving support to the midfielders on plenty of occasions.

Rio Ferdinand: 6
Was guilty of conceding a penalty after a lazy challenge on Thomas. Though the resulting penalty taken by in-form Odemwingie was equally wayward and missed the goal by a yard or two.

Nemanja Vidic: 8
Covered up for Rio's performance with his rock strong presence on the field. Went for the ball on every chance and won almost all aerial challenges. Prevented the ball from going in from a beautiful strike.

Patrice Evra: 6
Was a constant threat going ahead to support the attack. His cross resulted in United's first goal. Though, the boss was clearly unhappy by his defensive performance and he got a word or two from the manager on the pitch.

Darren Fletcher: 6
Looked sloppy after recovering from a fever. Was made to play as a Winger in the first half. The move backfired and then United played with a 4-3-3 in the second half.

Michael Carrick: 6
An out-of-form player. Wasn't able to deliver his famous pin point crosses but was always there to defend.

Anderson: 7
The Brazilian was the best midfielder on the pitch and was strong in his challenges and approach. Was present everywhere on the pitch, attack, mid and defense.

Obertan: 5
Did nothing except making 2 or 3 good runs in the first half. Lacked creativity and it seems he needs more time to settle at the Theater of Dreams.

Rooney: 8
Finally got the monkey off his back by scoring in the 2nd minute. Though it was mainly an amateur defending mistake but still, he would feel confident after the Boss termed his performance as "out of this world" after the match. Got a rash challenge and had to spend some time off the pitch but returned to finish off the game.

Berbatov: 6
8 goals in his last 3 games, looked a bit out of sort. Had to be substituted in the 60th minute.

Substitutes:
Fabio: 6
Came on for Neville and finished off the game for United. Looked good and certainly equal to his brother.

Gibson: 6
Came on for Obertan in the 60th minute. The little time he was on the pitch, he showed why he is at United. Showed some creativity going ahead and defended well in the closing minutes.

Hernandez: 7
The "star of the future", the "Super-Sub",the new "baby faced assassin" scored the winner for United, yet again from a header. Creating more fans for himself with every appearance.

Wayne Rooney Celebrates New Year with a GOAL and an ASSIST!

Both Chicharito And Wayne Rooney scored on the first day of 2011!

The first Premier League fixture of the year brought glory for Manchester United! Not only did they win the match to ensure the TOP position, but their 'blue-eyed' striker Wayne Rooney scored his first open play goal of the season after months of struggle!

West Brom 1-2 Manchester United highlights

But the victory did not come easily, after Rooney's third minute header which gave Red Devils the lead, in the 14th minute a long punt from the Baggies’ back line was headed away by Nemanja Vidic but unfortunately for the Reds skipper, the ball dropped kindly for James Morrison to swing his right boot and send an almost unstoppable shot arcing past Tomasz Kusczak into the top left-hand corner.

But as it has become a habit now for our 'Chicarito', he managed to shoot the winning goal in the 75th Minute.



With 1-1 on the board, Sir Alex made two changes on the hour mark, replacing Obertan with Darron Gibson on the right side of midfield and perhaps more surprisingly taking off top scorer Dimitar Berbatov to introduce Javier Hernandez. The subs had barely entered the fray when Ferdinand presented West Brom with a golden chance to go 2-1 up, tripping Peter Odemwingie as the striker entered the box. The felled opponent picked himself up to take the penalty but spurned it with a horrible miss, scuffing the ball wide left.The home fans' worst fears - that United might take full advantage of the reprieve - were almost instantly realised but West Brom keeper Scott Carson was quickly off his line to take the ball off Rooney's toes. But Rooney decided to cross it to Javier, who was inside the six-yard box and glanced a header past Carson, his 8th goal this season!

Red Devils could further extend their lead, but misfortune denied them a well deserved penalty. Kudos to Nemanja Vidic for brilliant defending over all!

But the victory has left a slight uncertainty in the mind of fans. Star of the Day, Rooney was limping towards the end of the match, although he was giving a Red Devil Smile after the win was ensured. Lets hope he is alright!