WEST BROM ADDED to David Moyes’ misery with a sensational 2-1 win at Old Trafford.
A week on from their 4-1 derby humiliation at Manchester City, United were looking to return to winning ways in the league but instead slumped to a defeat that leaves them 12th in the table.
On-loan Marseille winger Morgan Amalfitano put West Brom ahead with an exquisite individual goal in the 54th minute, picking the ball up on halfway and nutmegging Rio Ferdinand before insouciantly dinking the ball over goalkeeper David de Gea.
Wayne Rooney equalised three minutes later, with a free-kick from wide on the left that eluded everyone, only for 20-year-old midfielder Saido Berahino to restore West Brom’s lead with a fierce left-foot drive.
Steve Clarke’s side held on for a victory that means United have now made their worst ever start to a Premier League season, in Moyes’s first campaign since succeeding the legendary Alex Ferguson as manager.
Asked if West Brom had deserved to win, Moyes said: “I think that’s right.”
He added: “You’re always going to have bad results. It is how you deal with them. There are lots of games to come and it’s about how you deal with them, so we look forward to them.”
United’s fans could nonetheless take a small crumb of consolation from the fact that their conquerors from last weekend fell to a 3-2 defeat at Aston Villa.
Yaya Toure gave City the lead on the stroke of half-time, with Edin Dzeko putting the visitors back in front in the 56th minute after Karim El Ahmadi had equalised for Villa early in the second period.
However, a fine free-kick from Leonardo Bacuna saw Villa equalise in the 73rd minute before Andreas Weimann ran clear and beat Joe Hart two minutes later to give Paul Lambert’s side a stunning win.
“We played very well and deserved to win, but in five minutes we threw away everything good we did in the rest of the match,” said City manager Manuel Pellegrini, whose side host European champions Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday.
“The way we lost this game was incredible. We led twice, and we had control of the game.”
Record signing Dani Osvaldo scored his first Southampton goal in a 2-0 win at home to Crystal Palace, which sent Mauricio Pochettino’s side to the heady heights of fourth place.
An injury-time thunderbolt from Jordan Mutch gave Cardiff City a dramatic 2-1 win at Fulham, while Hull City beat West Ham United 1-0 via a 12th-minute penalty by Robbie Brady.
