Manchester United can breathe a sigh of relief as they were lucky to leave the Britannia with a point. Stoke were rampant on Manchester during the second half and they took the lead in the second minute thanks to Ryan Shawcross but United leveled thanks to Radamel Falcao and you would have thought that United would then be gunning for the win but it was Stoke who did all the attacking.
United were lucky not to concede a penalty when Smalling handled the ball in the box and Crouch then hit the post from a free kick but United hung on, just about and now see their lead over Southampton cut to just 1 point thanks to the Saints win, here are the player ratings for Manchester United.
Manchester United Player Ratings vs Stoke City
David de Gea: 7/10
Had to pick the ball from the back of the net in the 2nd minute but De Gea stood firm and took on all comers, he couldn’t have saved the ball from hitting the post by Crouch but De Gea wasn’t the worst player for United.
Jonny Evans: 6/10
Manchester United’s defensive issues came out in this game as their trio of central defenders just could not cope with the inventiveness and brute force of the Stoke City forwards.
Chris Smalling: 6/10
Brought back into the team, Smalling was extremely lucky not to give away a definite penalty when he handled the ball in the box.
Phil Jones: 6/10
Again, the third defender who just could not get a foothold in the game. Jones and the rest should have been able to deal with Walters and Co. but failed ultimately.
Luke Shaw: 6/10
Shaw’s return to the team didn’t last long as he was substituted in the 64th minute, he did link up well in attack with the rest of the team but needs a bit more playing time to get back to full fitness.
Ashley Young: 7/10
He seems to have become an undroppable player for Louis Van Gaal and Young is repaying the faith, although he hasn’t set the league on fire, he has become one of Manchester United’s consistent players.
Michael Carrick: 6/10
Manchester United had 66% of possession in the game and some of that should be credited to Michael Carrick and his ability to use the ball, unfortunately he didn’t really help much in attack.
Juan Mata: 7/10
Flashes of brilliance highlighted by some rather mediocre minutes, that is the perfect way to describe Juan Mata’s performance for the game and the season.
Wayne Rooney: 7/10
Rooney, yet again was the one player who gave it his all and was involved in all that was good for Manchester United. Him playing in the deeper role has opened the pitch for him and allows him to do what he wants to.
Radamel Falcao: 7/10
The Colombian scored the equalizer for United which was a poacher’s goal, United should be happy with Falcao now returning to his best but he still needs some more game time.
Robin Van Persie: 6/10
Unusually quite throughout the game, Van Persie did not seem ready for the game and maybe the atmosphere or the sheer number of games got to the Dutchman, Robin may need a rest to get him going again.
Substitutes:
Anders Herrera: 6/10
Was one of two substitutes who were brought on in the 64th minute but didn’t really contribute much to the game.
Adnan Januzaj: 5/10
Was brought on and played as a wing back in place of Luke Shaw and was constantly targeted by Stoke with balls peppered to him, he couldn’t really deal with the physicality and often looked out of sorts.
Rafael da Silva: 6/10
Rafael had a mediocre game for Manchester United, pretty much like the rest of the squad. He didn’t look bad but it was Stoke City who were the ones having all the fun.
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