Out-of-sorts United ride their luck

West Brom 1 Manchester Utd 2:A FACT less well known than Wayne Rooney going from March to January without scoring a goal from open play is that Rio Ferdinand has to think back just as far to remember committing a foul.

The England captain’s record of clean tackles came to an end at the Hawthorns when he tripped Jerome Thomas to concede a penalty, which gives some indication of the extent to which Manchester United were being rattled by West Bromwich Albion, yet when their moment to change the game from 12 yards arrived, Peter Odemwingie let the visitors off the hook.

“Sometimes you need a bit of luck and we got some,” Ferdinand said. “I knew it was my first foul but I also knew it was a penalty. The referee wasn’t going to change his mind, but as soon as the kick was missed it gave us the impetus to get into the game, to really go at them and get the three points, which is what we did. It is the sign of a top team that you can take advantage when you get a bit of luck.”

Ferdinand, like Alex Ferguson, thought Odemwingie’s wretched penalty miss could be one of those moments on which a title campaign turns, and the way in which United imposed themselves on the game in the second half was indeed ominous.

It was clear to all, however, that their real moment of luck came in the first half, when Gary Neville was allowed to stay on the field after fouling Graham Dorrans and denying the player a goal-scoring chance. Ferdinand thought it was a penalty. Ferguson thought it was a penalty. According to Roberto Di Matteo everyone in the ground thought it was a penalty except the referee, Chris Foy.

It is possible that West Bromwich would have squandered a first-half spot-kick as they did in the second, though they would surely have profited from playing 10 men for over an hour.

“I am not saying we would have been able to win the game with a first-half penalty and United down to 10 men,” Di Matteo said. “But it would have been nice to find out.”

West Brom could have done with a better finisher than Dorrans getting on the end of their best two chances – even allowing for the foul by Neville, the midfielder still passed up an excellent shooting opportunity – though there was nothing wrong with James Morrison’s eye for goal when he picked up a stray Nemanja Vidic header on the edge of the area to equalise with the cleanest of half-volleys.

Rooney put United in front after three minutes, and also swung over a useful corner from which an unmarked Javier Hernandez headed the winner, yet still Ferguson’s post-match string of superlatives seemed misplaced. Other United players paid tribute to the feisty spirit that drove the visitors on even when they were being outplayed and outpassed by West Bromwich, though by Rooney’s own standards what he achieved on the pitch was nothing remarkable.

Ferguson must have been trying to boost his player’s confidence or rationalise his own decision to award him a pay rise. A routine header from a fine Patrice Evra cross and a performance filled with as much frustration as inspiration may only have struck Ferguson as being out of this world, but Ferdinand thinks all will be well in Wayne’s world soon.

“He has been playing well in the last few game, we all knew the goals would come because he is such a good player,” Ferdinand said. “Fingers crossed he can go on a good run now he’s got one.

“I didn’t know about my own record until a week or so ago, and when I heard the stat I thought it was a lie. You try and nick the ball off people rather than going through them, and if you can do that and stay clean, great. But you will give away fouls sometimes. I can’t actually remember the last one, but I’m sure it wasn’t a penalty.”

Guardian Service