West Bromwich Albion vs Manchester United: Five things we learned as Romelu Lukaku and Jesse Lingard spark win

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Manchester United secured their second narrow victory in the space of four days with a 2-1 defeat of West Brom at the Hawthorns.

Romelu Lukaku's header and Jesse Lingard's deflected strike gave Jose Mourinho's team a two-goal advantage at the break, and although Gareth Barry pulled one back for the hosts, United clung on for all three points.

The victory still leaves United second in the league, 11 points behind their city rivals, while West Brom's poor run of form leaves them 19th in the table, above only Swansea City.

Here are five things we learned from the Hawthorns.

After his barren run it must be a relief to Romelu Lukaku and his manager to see the striker back among the goals. The opener here was almost identical to the header he scored against Bournemouth at Old Trafford in midweek, leaping highest before powering the ball into an unreachable part of the goal. As in midweek he didn't celebrate, suggesting that something is not quite right – unless it was a mark of respect to his former club – but he will surely be smiling soon enough if he can return to that sensational early-season form over Christmas, which he seems to be threatening.

The league title may be a long shot at this stage but there will be a time, towards the end of the season, when United will hope to be competing in the latter stages of the FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League. When that time comes Mourinho will have a decision to make over which of his array of attacking midfielders he chooses to start those key games. He has options in Marcus Rashford, Juan Mata, Anthony Martial and the out of favour Henrikh Mkhitaryan but surely Jesse Lingard is at the front of the queue right now. He has added key goals and assists to his excellent work ethic and intelligent running, and the forward's goal here is just the latest example of why he has become an essential part of the Mourinho plan.

West Brom have proved hopelessly impotent in attack this season, a trait that has continued despite the change of manager. There was not a great deal of improvement on show on Sunday but in Oliver Burke Alan Pardew has a player with the ability to do something telling and unpredictable. The 20-year-old Scottish winger, who was signed from RB Leipzig in the summer, made an impressive spin and drive towards United's defence during the first half and only a last-ditch challenge by Chris Smalling denied him a clear chance to find the equaliser. The key now will be for Burke to add Premier League end product to his ample potential.

There were times when Tony Pulis played three holding midfielders in front of a back five, even at the Hawthorns, much to the frustration of the home support. With his back four against UnitedPardew was not quite that defensive but he did use three defensive-minded midfield players in Jake Livermore, Claudio Yacob and Grzegorz Krychowiak. The trio lacked any attacking threat – they have precisely zero goals in the league this season between them – and given the lack of a reliable regular goalscorer to lead the line Pardew must surely look to change the personnel to add some threat from midfield – it could well be his priority in the January transfer window.

The Baggies played more than six hours of football without scoring before Gareth Barry scrambled the ball over the line in the late stages. It didn't amount to anything in terms of points but it at least put to bed the team's terrible run without a goal. Now that psychological hurdle is cleared, of course, Pardew must find a way for his team to hit the back of the net on a regular basis.