Man United's Frailities Exposed Again As They Are Held To A Draw By Sunderland - English Premier League - iSport

Barclays Premier League Analysis : For the fourth time in their first eight matches of the BPL 2010-11 season, Manchester United failed to hold on to a comfortable lead. And, in only one of those four instances, have the Red Devils got all three points. After playing out frustrating draws at Fulham and Everton from winning positions, Man United salvaged a 3-2 win against Liverpool last month. iSporter Akshay Iyer presents analyses of the game.

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However, Man United was at it again at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon when the Red Devils hosted West Bromwich Albion (WBA). United allowed West Brom to come back from a 0-2 deficit to eke out a 2-2 draw and steal a point from under the Red Devils' noses. This result means Manchester United has drawn five of its first eight matches of the 2010-11 season. More worrying though is the trend of United conceding the advantage; this has so far happened in three matches and has cost the Red Devils six crucial points.

This though shouldn't have been the case as Man United was all over WBA in the first half at Old Trafford creating chances aplenty right from the outset and took the lead in the 5^th minute when Javier Hernandez scored his first Premier League goal. Hernandez has to thank WBA goal-keeper Scott Carson for getting on the score sheet as he failed to clear Nani's free kick from just outside the box. Nani, who has undoubtedly been Man United's star performer so far in the season, then doubled the lead in the 25^th minute following a one-two with Dimitar Berbatov.

As impressive as these two strikes were, Berbatov and Nani would be rueing their poor finishing in the first half, which kept West Brom afloat in the match. Wayne Rooney, who was left on the bench at the start of the match, would have wondered if his presence on the pitch would have helped Man United convert their dominance into goals. At the end of the first half, Man United was up 2-0, but really they should have scored at least five goals in the first 45 minutes.

Though his finishing left much to be desired for the most part, Nani continued to impress in the season as he is now slowly but surely emerging from Cristiano Ronaldo's shadow. His pace, agility and crosses from the flanks have all proven to be too hot to handle for opposition defenders.

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The poor finishing apart, the other concern for Man United in the first half was Ryan Giggs hobbling off in the 43^rd minute to be replaced by Darron Gibson, after the former aggravated a hamstring injury.

Manchester United started the second half strongly and would have had a third goal in the 47^th minute, but Nemanja Vidic's header bounced out after hitting the post. Had Vidic scored, West Brom would all but have been out for the match. To West Brom's credit though, they immediately went on the counter-attack and pulled one back in the 49^th minute when Man United defender Patrice Evra deflected Chris Brunt's free kick past his own 'keeper Edwin van der Sar.

West Brom looked a different side after getting one back and launched a series of blistering attacks down Man United's defence line and were rewarded for their persistence in the 55^th minute when Somen Tchoyi made Van der Sar pay dearly for a goalkeeping howler. Van der Sar failed to hold on to Brunt's cross and the resulting error saw the ball fall at Tchoyi's feet and he didn't make any mistake in tapping the ball home.

Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson finally introduced Rooney and Paul Scholes in the 71^st minute, but by then the damage was done as West Brom were firmly in control of affairs and the Red Devils had to scramble on occasions to ensure the visitors didn't go in front. Rooney had an opportunity to again put United in front in the 81^st minute but his blistering shot from Nani's short free kick was well cleared off the line by West Brom defender Gabriel Tamas. West Brom, in fact, should thank Tamas and his fellow defender Jonas Olsson for the stellar job they did to deny Man United from running away with the match.

As for Man United, they just have to find a way to ensure they don't continue conceding the advantage and once again start dominating and imposing themselves on the opposition. That is something that Chelsea is doing extremely well at the moment.