Stoke 1-1 Manchester United: Highlights and recap

Stoke drew 1-1 with Manchester United at the Britannia on Saturday, Jan 21. Here are all the highlights from the match.

Stoke began this match at a frantic pace, pressing Manchester United all over the pitch, with Glen Whelan and Charlie Adam particularly busy in central midfield.

United struggled to find any rhythm in the face of the Stoke press, but the home side weren’t able to create many chances of their own in an end-to-end match.

The breakthrough eventually came via a fortuitous deflection. Marko Arnautovic, played into space on the left wing, cut the ball back for Erik Pieters, whose cross was deflected by Juan Mata into his own net. The Potters had the lead without recording a single shot on target.

United took over the game from there, and Stoke seemed to tire a little after their early exertions. Zlatan Ibrahimovic found himself in good position on the half hour mark, but Mata failed to convert his cross at the back post.

Stoke keeper Lee Grant had a busy half, but none of his saves were particularly noteworthy.

The second half followed the same pattern as the end of the first, with United piling forward in attack and Stoke trying to play on the counter.

Marcus Rashford and Wayne Rooney were both brought on with United chasing the game, but the Potters were resilient at the back, restricting United to a series of half chances.

The game seemed to be heading for a quiet finish before United won a free-kick 16 yards out on the left side of Stoke’s area, which Rooney stepped up to curl into the top right corner of Grant’s net. It was a stunning goal to make Rooney United’s all-time leading goal scorer.

Highlights

The draw hasn’t changed Stoke’s position in the table. The Potters stay in ninth after West Brom also won.

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United remain where they were as well after failing to take the chance to leapfrog Manchester City into fifth place.