There’s a famous saying in football that ‘it doesn’t matter how a goal is scored, all that matters is that goal is scored.’ Well it’s worth reminding people that, especially after it was an own goal that secured victory for Manchester United at the Hawthorns on Sunday.

Two seasons ago during the 09/10 season, famously United were the beneficiaries of 10 own-goals scored for them, which incredibly ranked only behind Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney in the club’s highest goalscorers for the season.

At several stages of that season, there were often moans from opposition fans that United had been ‘lucky’ to have had so many own-goals go in their favour and that without those own-goals they would not have pushed Chelsea so close to the Premier League title that year.

Whilst of course there’s an element of fortune in getting an own-goal, what is often forgotten by fans not only of the opposing team but football in general is that almost 9/10 a player puts the ball through his net (whether he is aware of it or not) because of pressure put against him or his team.

United’s winner at the weekend was scored by the pressure and threat that  Ashley Young posed and the fact that he was able to get to the by-line and whip in a dangerous delivery into the box which thankfully deflected in of Steven Reid.

There was nothing Reid could have done about the goal. Were West Brom unlucky in that respect, of course they were but did United not deserve to get the goal – no. Young’s trickery the whole game had caused the Baggies problems and his wonderful bit of skill that enabled him to get past Chris Brunt was worthy of setting up the goal.

Goign back to the 09/10 season, every one of those 10 own goals – even Abou Diaby’s winner at Old Trafford – was created by pressure alone and more often than not when you put a good ball into the box something inevitably will happen. It’s not as if we have benefited via an own goal, when no pressure has been created at all, when it really is a bad mistake by a player from another team.

It’s not as if United have benefited from the last own-goal scored by Frank Sinclair in this video against Middlesbrough which was purely down to a mix-up between the Leicester defender and his goalkeeper Ian Walker. Now that goal could be deemed as something ‘underserved’ scored through no pressure at all. Now that’s the kind of lucky goal for the ‘Own Goal Criticis’ to get angry about.

By Adam Dennehey @ADennehey87