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		</div><p><b>West Brom 1 Man Utd 0</b></p>
<p>Juan Mata&#8217;s early red card was the catalyst for Manchester United&#8217;s downfall as Salomon Rondon saw West Brom halt a run of four successive wins for Louis van Gaal&#8217;s men.</p>
<p>Talk of a top-four challenge followed the recent upturn in fortunes at Old Trafford, but Albion ensured a key week would start with a loss for the visitors.</p>
<p>Mata&#8217;s foolish sending-off midway through the first half gave Tony Pulis&#8217; men an advantage they capitalised on, with Rondon&#8217;s fine finish earning a 1-0 victory that almost certainly secures his side&#8217;s survival.</p>
<p>The Venezuela striker&#8217;s fourth goal in six Premier League matches condemned United to a first league defeat at The Hawthorns since March 1984 and saw them fall behind in the race for the Champions League.</p>
<p>West Brom were perhaps unfortunate not to take the lead in a first half which saw Mata pick up the first red card of his club career &#8211; and United&#8217;s first sending-off of the season &#8211; after collecting two bookings in less than three minutes.</p>
<p>Van Gaal&#8217;s men showed signs of recovery as they returned from half-time brightly, only for Rondon to lash home and end Albion&#8217;s run of 11 winless league fixtures at home to the Reds.</p>
<p>Defeat leaves United three points off rivals Manchester City &#8211; who also boast a game in hand &#8211; and seemed a distinct possibility after a lacklustre opening period.</p>
<p>Anthony Martial&#8217;s tame effort after two minutes was all Van Gaal&#8217;s side could muster, whereas the hosts proved a threat from the outset.</p>
<p>Rondon&#8217;s directness made him a nuisance but it was his vision that almost undid United, with his clipped ball to Craig Dawson headed wide in the ninth minute.</p>
<p>Saido Berahino&#8217;s scuffed attempt from a clever Craig Gardner header was blocked by the returning Chris Smalling as the home side continued to press, with the natives unhappy to see Daley Blind&#8217;s high foot on Berahino adjudged to have taken place outside the box.</p>
<p>The noise inside the Hawthorns rose several notches with that decision and &#8211; shortly after Gareth McAuley headed inches wide, unaware the offside flag was raised &#8211; it went up further.</p>
<p>Less than three minutes after being booked for encroaching on a quickly-taken free-kick, Mata&#8217;s wild swing at former team-mate Darren Fletcher led to a second yellow.</p>
<p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/image-17.jpeg" rel="attachment wp-att-87103"><img src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/image-17-300x163.jpeg" alt="West Brom vs Man Utd" width="300" height="163" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-87103" /></a></p>
<p>It naturally led pressure to mount on United&#8217;s backline, but the closest Albion came before half-time was an audacious half-volley from the unlikely source of Dawson.</p>
<p>Van Gaal&#8217;s men attempted to capitalise on those missed opportunities as they returned from the break brightly.</p>
<p>Marcus Rashford was largely anonymous but saw a snapshot deflect wide after exceptional work down the left by Martial.</p>
<p>Jesse Lingard was the next to threaten, cutting back and curling a strike just over from the edge of the box.</p>
<p>Ander Herrera hit a free-kick into the wall as United continued to threaten a West Brom defence destabilised by McAuley limping off, only for replacement Sebastien Pocognoli to create the opener.</p>
<p>After referee Mike Dean waved play on, the ball was played out wide for the Belgian full-back to fizz in a cross that Rondon controlled well and fired home sweetly.</p>
<p>It was a 66th-minute lead that United rarely threatened to cancel out, with the introduction of Memphis Depay in place of 18-year-old Rashford failing to jump-start the visitors.</p>
<p>Most of the play was in their half but, like the visitors, Albion were unable to create any clear-cut chances &#8211; not that it mattered in the end.</p>
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