Boxing Day wasn’t really a sweet day for the travelling team. A team as mighty as Manchester United succumbed to a defeat against the 11th placed Stoke City. The Red Devils came in from a defeat against Norwich as their miserable spell continued. Louis van Gaal’s red and white army put up a disappointing game against the Potters as the crowd at Britannia stadium went mental at full time. All it took was just 2 early goals for Stoke to conquer victory over Man United. The home team happily snatched 3 points from the English giants in a game which one would have anticipated Manchester United to win comfortably.
Starting with the line ups, surprisingly Wayne Rooney was benched and the reason behind this was- it’s a part of the ‘philosophy and tactics’. Well fair enough, Rooney hasn’t been good enough this season and benching him was somewhat the right call. Herrera was given a chance to start today, unlike majority of the times. However, Schneiderlin was benched which led to a meltdown among the fans. Louis van Gaal stated that there was a fantastic attitude from the players and the lads showed good spirit, in the pre match presentation. He also expressed his full belief for the game.
The weather wasn’t so pleasant and was tough to cope up with. The game kicked off with the ball possession mainly being enjoyed by the home side. No shots were made until the 7th minute as David De Gea remained untested. In the 8th minute, Dutch player Memphis Depay nearly nipped into the opponent’s net to take advantage. It was an awkward moment for Stoke City’s goalkeeper, Jack Butland. Herrera’s long range shot was saved by Butland who has been top class this whole season.
Although Fellaini was poor in the game, he managed to put Afellay under pressure during a few moments. Overall, Fellaini had a bad game at the end of the fixture. During the 18th minute, Butland was forced to hang on to a curling free kick from Memphis from the left wing.
The 19th minute added colour to the game. Stoke City score the first goal of the game as Bojan gives the host an early lead after a mix up at the back. The goal shook Manchester United’s confidence as the travelling team looked nervous. Ashley Young was booked in the 25th minute for handling the ball just outside the penalty area. And again, Stoke City score! This time Marko Arnautovic doubled the lead with an unstoppable drive from outside the box. The goal was the winner of the game as the fixture witnessed no other score on the score sheet, later.
Memphis’ long range free kick troubled Butland but when the ball broke into Fellaini, the Belgian was flagged offside. On the other end, Arnautovic in the 36th minute sprang the offside trap but he shot wide and eventually he advanced on De Gea’s goal. At halftime, the Potters enter the tunnel with a smile on their faces after a might two goal lead, whereas, United look clueless and pray for draw as they bring on Rooney on for Memphis.
Bojan got booked for simulation after he went down inside the Reds’ area in the 49th minute. Some good effort was shown by Young on the right in the 59th minute before his delivery flashed across the six yard box. Since the break, United looked better and sharper. Fellaini almost scored the first goal for the Red Devils in the 64th minute as his shot was well saved by Butland following good approach play by Wazza. Meanwhile the home team made a substitution as Diouf came on for Shaqiri. De Gea made two important saves between the 72nd and 80th minutes. Pereira who came on as a sub for Herrera got booked in the 83rd minute for pulling his man back as Stoke started to counter. Anthony Martial drove forward but his side footed attempt from 20 years was pushed out by Jack Butland. He failed to score a last minute goal.
The game ended with Manchester United giving away 3 points and a clean sheet to the lovely Stoke City. Memphis Depay came out as the worst player for the English giants. Michael Carrick too had a nightmare as this happened to be his worst game under LvG’s era. Daley Blind was not productive and Ander Herrera wasted his chance when gifted to start the game. The Stoke defense was strong as they successfully stopped the opponents from scoring. Butland yet again had a brilliant game as he swept away with a clean sheet.