United injury crisis as Vidic and Ferdinand limp off

West Bromwich Albion 1 Manchester United 2. The reigning Premier League champions began the defence of their crown with a hard-earned win at the Hawthorns, but victory for Alex Ferguson’s men came at a heavy price. Centre backs  Nemanja Vidic (calf) and Rio Ferdinand (hamstring) both picked up injuries, and the United boss revealed later that defender Rafael Da Silva is also out for at least two months after dislocating his shoulder in a training injury on Friday. "We've had a torrid time with injuries," admitted Ferguson, adding: "Rio will be out for six weeks. Vida will have checks on Monday, we don't know if it's just a nerve or something, but he could be out for a couple of weeks."

With defender Patrice Evra also out injured at the moment, not to mention winger Antonio Valencia and striker Javier Hernandez, United's resources are already stretched one game into the season; but unlike Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal, they got their Premier League campaign off to a winning start.

Wayne Rooney opened the scoring for the visitors on 13 minutes when he finished off an interchange of passes between Fabio Da Silva and Ashley Young by lashing the ball past Ben Foster into the bottom left hand corner of the Baggies net. United should have extended their lead as they dominated possession but Nani – the hero against Manchester City in the Community Shield last week – wasted two good goal-scoring opportunities.

Then on 37 minutes Albion levelled, and once again it was new goalkeeper David De Gea at fault. Last week against City the 20-year-old Spaniard played a part in both the Sky Blues goals, and this time it was another error that gifted Shane Long his goal. His shot should never have found its way past De Gea, but the youngster allowed it to squirm under his body and into the net.

After the break United lost both Ferdinand and Vidic to injury but just when a draw looked the most likely result up popped Ashley Young, working in tandem with lady luck. The England winger’s speculative cross from the left nine minutes from time hit Baggies midfielder Steven Reid and deflected past Foster for the winning goal.

"We played ourselves into the game and deserved a result for long periods of the game," reflected Albion manager Roy Hodgson. "But unfortunately Young got that bit of luck and that changed the complexion of things."

With United's next two fixtures against Tottenham (home) and Arsenal (away), Alex Ferguson's satisfaction with the three points will be tempered with concern over the length of his injury list. He'll also be concerned about the form of De Gea, who arrived with a fanfare from Atletico Madrid last month in an £18m deal. Two games and two gaffes isn't what Ferguson would have expected. "He is young. He will learn. He will come through," said Ferguson. "David's concentration cost him the goal. It was a slack goal to lose but it is an experience for the lad." ·