MANCHESTER UNITED did all they could in the race for the Premier League title with a 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns yesterday.

Despite league leaders Manchester City being 11 points clear at the top of the table, Jose Mourinho is yet to publicly concede the title race is over.

And United looked to put West Brom to the sword with two first-half goals from Romelu Lukaku and Jesse Lingard.

The Baggies fought back after the break with a goal from Gareth Barry, playing in his 36th Premier League game against United.

But despite having several opportunities to take a point from the game, Albion squandered their chances and remain second from bottom in the table without a win in 17 games.

It took until the 27th minute for the first real piece of quality from either side, Marcus Rashford cutting onto his right foot and whipping a pinpoint cross onto the head of Lukaku.  

It was the Belgian’s second goal in two games following a poor performance against Manchester City last weekend, where he was heavily criticised.

And in the same way he opted not celebrate in midweek against Bournemouth, there was no emotion from the striker as he stood, arms by his side, in front of the travelling United fans.

But Mourinho played down the lack of a celebration from his player. He said: “I think there are two reasons [Lukaku didn’t celebrate]. The first is his love for West Bromwich Albion. He was a happy kid here [when on loan from Chelsea]. They helped him to develop and they made him feel at home. It was here that he exploded in the Premier League.

“And probably the second thing is he looks at me and I don’t celebrate either. And why should I celebrate?

“You get more experience, more balance, you don’t go crazy when you win and you don’t get depressed when you lose. You get more stable with experience.”

Albion had the chance to level the game through Salomon Rondon just moments before Lingard doubled the visitors’ lead with a deflected effort off Ahmed Hegazi.

But they could have been further behind had Lukaku not failed to connect with Rashford’s cross inches wide of goal.

Rondon missed a chance of his own to get the hosts back into the game before they home eventually found the back of the net on 77 minutes when Chris Brunt’s corner eventually fell at the feet of Gareth Barry, who stabbed the ball past David de Gea.

Hegazi and Barry then failed late in the game to capitalise on a loose ball in the box, following another Brunt corner.

“I learnt a lot today,” said Albion manager Alan Pardew. “I think the team have learnt a lot and I was pleased we ended like we did because I would have been disappointed if we hadn’t put in a better performance than we did in the first half.”