Red Devils extend unbeaten record thanks to two moments of brilliance.
By Phil Haigh
Manchester United went into this home game hoping to extend their impressive undefeated record in the league, but would have to do so without Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand or Edwin van der Saar, none of whom were in the squad. Stoke were trying to get their first win against United in the Premier League.
Despite the disparity in the statistics it was a very even start to the game as the numerous changes to the home side’s line-up seemed to be disrupting their rhythm, whilst the visitors showed they weren’t afraid to attack with the likes of Matthew Etherington and Tuncay Sanli being especially adept to the counter-attack.
Few chances emerged in the first fifteen minutes with the final ball letting United down on the odd occasion. However it was clear that Stoke's attacking threat was going to be short-lived as they quickly left all the forward thinking football to the home side. Darron Gibson showed he was in his usual shoot on sight mood as he flashed a shot over the bar from range which was as close as anyone came in the opening exchanges.
Manchester United created very little until the 27th minute when a moment of brilliance broke the deadlock. Dimitar Berbatov played the ball out to the right to Nani who had far too much time to pick out his man in the middle which he did to perfection.
Javier Hernandez was making a darting run to the near post and met the cross with a beautiful back-heel flick which Asmir Begovic in the Stoke goal clearly was not expecting as it beat him at his near post leaving the former Portsmouth ‘keeper on his backside.
The home side didn’t really build on this in the way you may have expected them to as their only efforts on goal in the next ten minutes were wayward long range attempts from Nani. Marc Wilson from the opposing side had a similarly high and wide effort that was Stoke’s only real attempt on goal of the first half.
By the 37th minute though it was a Nani/Hernandez combination that saw United come close to doubling their lead. The Portuguese winger nodded the ball back across the danger area which again was met by the Mexican but his shot blazed over the bar, seemingly taking a deflection, but the officials thought otherwise.
As the first half came to a close it appeared to be a performance typical of Manchester United this season. There is no way anyone could say they had totally dominated the game, or even played particularly well, but were winning the match thanks to a moment of brilliance, and without threatening too much themselves, also hadn’t looked too much like conceding.
It might not be inspirational stuff, but it’s effective and United were very happy with the lack of adventure shown by Stoke.
Despite the disparity in the statistics it was a very even start to the game as the numerous changes to the home side’s line-up seemed to be disrupting their rhythm, whilst the visitors showed they weren’t afraid to attack with the likes of Matthew Etherington and Tuncay Sanli being especially adept to the counter-attack.
Few chances emerged in the first fifteen minutes with the final ball letting United down on the odd occasion. However it was clear that Stoke's attacking threat was going to be short-lived as they quickly left all the forward thinking football to the home side. Darron Gibson showed he was in his usual shoot on sight mood as he flashed a shot over the bar from range which was as close as anyone came in the opening exchanges.
Manchester United created very little until the 27th minute when a moment of brilliance broke the deadlock. Dimitar Berbatov played the ball out to the right to Nani who had far too much time to pick out his man in the middle which he did to perfection.
Javier Hernandez was making a darting run to the near post and met the cross with a beautiful back-heel flick which Asmir Begovic in the Stoke goal clearly was not expecting as it beat him at his near post leaving the former Portsmouth ‘keeper on his backside.
The home side didn’t really build on this in the way you may have expected them to as their only efforts on goal in the next ten minutes were wayward long range attempts from Nani. Marc Wilson from the opposing side had a similarly high and wide effort that was Stoke’s only real attempt on goal of the first half.
By the 37th minute though it was a Nani/Hernandez combination that saw United come close to doubling their lead. The Portuguese winger nodded the ball back across the danger area which again was met by the Mexican but his shot blazed over the bar, seemingly taking a deflection, but the officials thought otherwise.
As the first half came to a close it appeared to be a performance typical of Manchester United this season. There is no way anyone could say they had totally dominated the game, or even played particularly well, but were winning the match thanks to a moment of brilliance, and without threatening too much themselves, also hadn’t looked too much like conceding.
It might not be inspirational stuff, but it’s effective and United were very happy with the lack of adventure shown by Stoke.
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