Albion 3, Manchester United 2

Albion could not wish for a calmer, more astute manager than Chris Hughton to negotiate a path through a hazardous start to their second season in the Premier League.

The pressure was well and truly on after a dismal display and defeat on the opening day at Watford.

Manchester United's visit launched a sequence of four out of six matches against last season's top four.

How did Hughton react after the setback at Vicarage Road, armed with at least some of the £60 million worth of summer signings available to him?

With customary consistency and faith in his players, rewarded by an outstanding display and result as United left the Amex pointless for the second time in three months.

Hughton omitted the only new signing to start at Watford, Gaetan Bong replacing Bernardo following the young Brazilian's troublesome baptism in Hertfordshire.

The Argus: The one new face to start this time was forced upon the manager, Martin Montoya (above) taking over from injured fellow Spaniard Bruno at right-back.

Hughton knows better than to abandon players he trusts after one poor match. There have been very few poor matches in his three full seasons in charge, so Yves Bissouma and Alireza Jahanbakhsh - after promising cameos from the bench at Watford - together with most of the rest remain waiting in the wings for now.

Their time will come for sure over the course of a demanding 38-game season at the highest level but the increased competition and depth to the squad helped galvanise established regulars into a stunning response which Jose MOurinho's error-riddled and disjointed United simply had no answer to.

The up-tempo dispatching of such illustrious rivals was all the more impressive for being achieved in the absence of two of the defensive talismen who have underpinned the rise.

Albion were not only missing Bruno, they also lost his stand-in as skipper, Lewis Dunk (below), after 20 minutes with an injured right ankle sustained when he lost possession to Romelu Lukaku and the Belgian obligingly drove the ensuing opportunity wide.

The Argus: Leon Balogun became the other new signing to make an appearance in place of Dunk. The Nigerian World Cup and ex-Bundesliga central defender fitted in snugly next to Shane Duffy, although he later blamed himself for Lukaku's goal, which briefly halved United's arrears.

They found themselves 2-0 down after 27 minutes to two goals in as many minutes as Albion rapidly built on a lead manufactured by two of the players whose retention in the starting line-up came in for criticism across social media platforms.

Solly March was well below-par at Watford but he was by no means alone, while Glenn Murray was starved on the opening day by the sort of service he exploits expertly.

March gave United's returning England right-back Ashley Young a difficult first half, often delivering swiftly and efficiently.

Murray (below), escaping his sleeping marker Victor Lindelof, met March's low cross to the near post in the 25th minute with a deft touch with the outside of his right-foot past David De Gea into the far corner.

The Argus: The Amex exploded when the lead doubled within two minutes. Duffy's initial attempt at the far post from Pascal Gross's corner ended up back at the feet of the probing German.

Gross's next ball in was diverted goalwards by Anthony Knockaert for Duffy to control and convert on the turn.

There was a certain irony about the Republic of Ireland central defender's first Premier League goal arriving in the absence of Dunk and from ground level.

The pair of them both acknowledge they should have a few set piece goals from headers under their belts by now.

Albion's propensity to concede from corners remains a cause for concern. That was United's route back into contention. Young's delivery was not dealt with sufficiently and Luke Shaw's resulting shot into the turf was headed in by the unmarked Lukaku inside the six-yard box.

United's problems in the centre of defence, not addressed in the summer, were exposed just before the break by another mistake by Eric Bailly, who needlessly conceded the corner for Albion's second goal.

Gross's first touch when a pass from Dale Stephens released him inside the area was unusually clumsy, taking him away from goal.

Bailly (below) lunged in, leaving referee Kevin Friend with an easy decision. Gross was a little fortunate as well with the spot-kick, struck down the middle, as the diving De Gea got a leg to it which re-directed the trajectory into the roof of the net.

The Argus: It was hard to believe that United, bad in the defeat inflicted by Gross in May, were even worse in the opening 45 minutes.

Mourinho brought on Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford for the second half, Marouane Fellaini as a final throw of the dice on the hour.

The players changed, the system changed, but little else. Albion managed the second half superbly, with few alarms apart from a flying stop by the under-employed Mathew Ryan to defy the otherwise ineffective Pogba from distance (below).

The Argus: United's French World Cup winner and captain in the absence of Antonio Valencia got on the scoresheet deep into stoppage time from the spot when Duffy blemished an outstanding performance by bringing down Fellaini from behind.

It was far too little, far too late. Albion now head to Anfield with three magnificently earned bonus points in the bag.