Twitter reacts as Manchester United register first Premier League home win of the season after VAR drama

After four failed attempts, Manchester United finally managed to register their first home win in the Premier League in the 2020/21 campaign as they defeated newly-promoted West Brom.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was forced to name a couple of changes in the line-up as Alex Telles was drafted in to make his first Premier League start for the club in place of Luke Shaw, while Nemanja Matic replaced Scott McTominay.

🇵🇹 - Bruno Fernandes pic.twitter.com/n9DBftGonM
— ManUtd Photos. (@ManUtdPhotos) November 21, 2020

The win against the Baggies was, by no means, an easy one as West Brom fought valiantly over the course of 90 minutes. Former United keeper Sam Johnstone, who recently played his 100th consecutive league game as the visitors' first-choice keeper, put in an inspired display against the Red Devils and made a string of astonishing saves in both halves to keep his old side at bay.

After a rather frustrating first half for the hosts, the second half got off to a rather dramatic start after Bruno Fernandes appeared to have committed a foul on Conor Gallagher worthy of a penalty in his own box. However, referee David Coote overturned the decision upon VAR's intervention.

HT 0-0. 313 minutes without a Premier League goal at Old Trafford now @ManUtd. First time West Brom have not been behind at the break in an away game this season.
— Simon Stone (@sistoney67) November 21, 2020

Just minutes later, Manchester United won a penalty in the Baggies' box after a clear handball, and Bruno Fernandes stepped up to take the penalty twice — after the first save was ruled out as Johnstone was off his line — to dispatch it and give his side the lead. West Brom almost got a picture-perfect response from the bench as Calum Robinson unleashed a riveting strike which rattled the crossbar.

Slaven Bilic's men committed bodies higher up the pitch in a desperate search for an equaliser but failed to find the all-important goal. The Red Devils managed to hold on for their first Old Trafford victory since a 5-2 win over Bournemouth on the fourth of July.

The hard-fought win was Manchester United's fourth win of the campaign and fired them into the top half of the table for the very first time this season, one point above cross-town rivals Manchester City and four off the champions Liverpool.

Here, we take a look at some of the best tweets about the game.

47': WBA given penalty

48': VAR overturns WBA penalty

53': Man Utd given penalty

55': WBA keeper saves penalty

56': Penalty save overturned by VAR for keeper off his line

56: Bruno scores at second attempt

Peak VAR 😅 pic.twitter.com/JusGe13VWb
— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 21, 2020

Job done at Old Trafford 💪

🔴 #MUFC
#️⃣ #MUNWBA
🏆 #PL pic.twitter.com/xEpOPW0QEE
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) November 21, 2020

Not sure how thats been overturned 🤷🏻‍♂️
— Ben Chilwell (@BenChilwell) November 21, 2020

WE CAN TAKE IT AS MANY TIMES AS WE WANT UNTIL WE SCORE THATS THE RULES 👍🏻
— ‘ (@vintageredss) November 21, 2020

Bruno's concedes legit penalty which VAR wrongly overrules, then misses his first pen but scores the retake. Center of attention. #MUNWBA pic.twitter.com/Uksdbeiysi
— M•A•J (@Ultra_Suristic) November 21, 2020

Man Utd have not scored in 370 minutes (6 hours, 10 mins) of open play Premier League football at Old Trafford.

Their only open-play home goal this season dates back to over two months ago. 😳 pic.twitter.com/hsFPKMGAi0
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) November 21, 2020

Average English goalkeepers when they play at Old Trafford pic.twitter.com/p7asievR7W
— Pøgba Senior (@TheSaItIsHere) November 21, 2020

Bruno Fernandes for Man Utd vs. West Brom:

◉ Most passes completed in final third (45)
◉ Most chances created (6)
= Most shots (4)
◉ Most crosses completed (3)
= Most fouls won (3)
◉ Most goals (1)

Running the show. pic.twitter.com/4VxVHoDzRS
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) November 21, 2020

Another penalty for Man United. I was going to say, we haven’t had one in 3 games, so we were well overdue one. Was getting a bit worried for a moment.
— Ryan. 🔴 (@Vintage_Utd) November 21, 2020

That was a 'win's a win' kind of win for #mufc. West Brom were unlucky not to take a point and, despite the quantity of Johnstone's saves, none matched the quality - or importance - of De Gea's at 0-0.
— Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) November 21, 2020

Fred vs. West Brom

91% Pass accuracy
6/7 Accurate long passes
1 Chance created
9/19 Duels won
2 Interceptions

He doesn't stop. To field the number of offensive players Man United want to field, you need a lot of work behind the scenes. Fred worked himself silly tonight. pic.twitter.com/v7UD1M79b1
— The Tactical Times (@Tactical_Times) November 21, 2020

These are the kind of games we used to lose btw. You can't criticise the team for not grinding out results & then whine when they do. This was us grinding out a result in a game where it looked like we weren't getting anything.

But here we're with 3 points — All that matters.
— ManUtdSense (@SensibleUtd) November 21, 2020

Harry Maguire’s game by numbers vs. West Brom:

89% pass accuracy
7/10 long passes
7 ball recoveries
4/6 aerials won
3 interceptions
2 clearances
2 shots
1 clean sheet

Another solid showing from the skipper. 👍 pic.twitter.com/ispwA6vkW5
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) November 21, 2020

STOP LOOKING FOR BRUNO ON EVER PASS AND TAKE SOME DAMN RESPONSIBILITY.
— Carl Anka (@Ankaman616) November 21, 2020

50% - Half of Bruno Fernandes' Premier League goals for Man Utd have been penalties (7/14), the highest ratio of any player to score for the club in the competition. Expert. #MUNWBA
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 21, 2020

Man Utd forwards have converted just 7.7% of all shots attempted in the league this season, the lowest conversion-rate among all Premier League teams this season.

Time for more shooting practice? pic.twitter.com/vLuy7hGsVm
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) November 21, 2020

Published 22 Nov 2020, 03:49 IST