The Baggies can shout about some impressive figures from Old Trafford win
WHAT a result it was at the weekend for Albion - a first win at Manchester United since 1978 in addition to the 3-0 mauling of Sunderland made it back-to-back Barclays Premier League wins.
The Old Trafford result saw Steve Clarke's team leap into the top half of the table - and here, the guys over at WhoScored.comhave the stats to show it was a deserved victory.
The Baggies became the first team this season to win away at United, and only the fourth side to come away with three points in the Red Devils' last 31 outings on home soil.
Few teams manage to take any points off a home United team, fewer still win at Old Trafford and a not many do so deservedly. However, it is hard to argue Albion did not fully deserve their 2-1 victory this weekend.
Clarke said after the game he hoped people focused on "how good Albion were" and not question the level of the hosts’ performance because “we were tremendous", and he certainly was not wrong about his team.
The fact United failed to score in open play and were restricted in their attacks owed as much to Clarke's game plan and his players' implementation of it,as it did to United's own shortcomings.
Claudio Yacob was sensational in the middle of the park, making seven of the Baggies’ 13 tackles and also making the most interceptions of all the Baggies' players (two). Few players in the whole Barclays Premier
League have made more than nine tackles and interceptions in a match this season, and Yacob was key to breaking up the home side's attacks.
The co-ordination between midfield and defence was also impressive, with the home team's players caught offside five times over the course of the game, Jonas Olsson marshalling his troops effectively on many an occasion.
But it was going forwards where Albion excelled, with Morgan Amalfitano and Stéphane Sessegnon running riot against what is so often a solid backline.
Their willingness to swap positions with clever runs across each other dragged United's defenders out of position and caused havoc in the defence.
It was a fantastic solo goal by Amalfitano to break the deadlock, having carried the ball from some way inside his own half, he was helped by Sessegnon's run from left to right which created space which the Frenchman exploited so ruthlessly.
His delicate finish completed a fantastic move that both players should be credited for.
Amalfitano was then on the edge of United box to complete a devastating and fluid move with a deft outside-of-the-boot lay-off which was finished off by 20-year-old hotshot Saido Berahino, who hit his fifth goal of the campaign in all competitions.
It was an accomplished finish from the youngster, but again Amalfitano was key.
He now has two goals and an assist in three Barclays Premier League appearances since joining the Baggies, and his two WhoScored.com Man of the Match awards is as many as any other player in the whole top flight, despite the fact he missed the first three matches.
He looks like he could be one of the best signings of the transfer window, and his impact should not be underestimated.
With Arsenal visiting The Hawthorns on Sunday (ko 4pm), Albion have nothing to fear and could well cause another upset.
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