What better way to start of the New Year than with a little bit of Premier League action? Today the 20th fixture of the Barclays Premier League kicked off and Manchester United vs. Stoke City F.C. was the first game to start the action. The last time these two teams met up in early December, Manchester took the win with a 2-1 score with goals coming from Marouane Fellaini and Juan Mata. For the first in a while we saw Luke Shaw, Chris Smalling and Ander Herrera in the team sheet for today’s game but it was also a devastating day for Red Devil fans. Ashley Young, who has been phenomenal for the past month in the left wing, came off the field due to a hamstring injury and just as injuries were slowly dying for the team, it seems like its still haunting them. Angel Di Maria was not on the bench either, as he is still recovering from injury. Di Maria should start training sometime this week. Manchester struggled with ball control once again, but were able to find their chemistry throughout the game.
It was a windy and chilly day at Britannia Stadium, but that did not stop the game. Louis Van Gaal used his favorite formation, a 3-5-2. It is a formation that has not worked very well since he introduced it at Old Trafford. In the back line we saw Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans with Ashley Young playing as a right wing back, Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick and Luke Shaw all playing midfield, with Juan Mata as a Center Attacking Mid and Robin Van Persie with Radamel Falcao in the front. David de Gea was the protector of the goal and performed phenomenally, even though a goal from defender Ryan Shawcross managed to find its way into the net. Radamel Falcao was also able to get a goal in the net to tie the game in the first half.
As the first half kicked off, right away Stoke City had control of the game. It only took two minutes for Stoke to get on the scoreboard. The goal came from a corner kick from forward Marko Arnautoviç. Arnautoviç crossed the ball and Peter Crouch found the ball with his head. Crouch’s ball found Shawcross who made a 180 turn and got the goal into the net to give stoke an early second half lead. It was poor defending from Manchester United, that allowed Crouch to win the ball with his head and a lack of defending that enabled Shawcross inside of the box.
Conceding the early goal got Manchester on there feet and forced them to step it up a bit on the defensive side. In the 17th minute, Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney set up for a free kick and they came up to the decision that Rooney would take charge of the set piece. Manchester had a chance to create a chance and tie the game, but Rooney kicked the ball too far wide and the score continued 1-0. A minute later, it was a battle between Jonny Evans and Mame Biram Diouf that Diouf won inside the box. Diouf went one on one against Manchester United keeper, David De Gea. Diouf kicked it too far to the left and failed to score, keeping the match at 1-0. The intense battle continued between both teams and Falcao was finally able to get his team on the scoreboard in the 26th minute. During a corner kick given to the Red Devils, it was Wayne Rooney who took the cross that found Michael Carrick. Carrick then put the ball into the middle of the box and Radamel Falcao made his way between two defenders and was able to kick the ball into the net of Asmir Begovic with his left leg, and tie the game.
In the 28th minute, Stoke City had a chance with a free kick and as the cross came into the box, American Geoff Cameron was able to find the ball with his head. Cameron was unable to put his team in the lead with the ball going too wide. De Gea also showed his frustration with the lack of defending from the players, especially from Evans.
In the 41st minute, Robin Van Persie was given the chance to go on goal but as he was going for the ball, goalkeeper Begovic beat him to it. In the process Begovich lifted his leg dangerously high and Van Persie did not hesitate too show that he was unhappy about the situation. Van Persie and Begovic went head to head but Shawcross was able to come in between and stop this from becoming something bigger.
As the first half came to an end, we saw both teams head to the locker room with a goal each.
The second half kicked off, and it was a slow start. Nothing came from both sides but Manchester United seemed to play better on defense. United shut down Stoke and didn’t allow them to get anywhere near to the box. In the 64th minute, we saw Ander Herrera come in for Radamel Falcao, something a lot of fans questioned. Falcao was in great form and creating chances for his team, but it wasn’t enough for Van Gaal. Adnan Januzaj also came in to replace Luke Shaw, another questionable change by Van Gaal since we saw Luke Shaw perform in great form throughout the game. During a play Chris Smalling and Peter Crouch went one on one in the air and after Crouch headed the ball, it ricocheted off of Smalling’s hand inside the box, but there was no penalty given to Stoke City. The replay clearly showed that the ball did hit Smalling’s hand, but there was nothing Stoke could do as the game continued on.
In the 66th minute Mata crossed the ball to Van Persie at the inside of the box. Van Persie took control of the ball but as he went for goal, he sent the ball over the crossbar and failed to put his team in the lead. Two minutes later it was Stoke City who had a chance during a free kick. Arnautoviç crossed the ball into the box and Crouch found the ball with his head and just when you thought the ball was going in, the ball hit the crossbar and Manchester United were spared from being down 2-1. Not a minute later, again it was Stoke who was on the attack from a corner. Arnautoviç once again crossed the ball and as Manchester United’s defence scrambled to get the ball away from the box, Diouf managed to steal it and went for goal. Diouf was denied by Smalling, who was there to save the Red Devils from going down 2-1.
As Manchester United pushed forward for an attack in the 73rd minute, Mata found Ashley Young with a through ball but as Young ran after it, he suddenly stopped due to, what we would later find out, was a hamstring injury. This ended Young’s game and forced Van Gaal into substituting Young with Brazilian defender, Rafael. The rest of the game was quiet. Nothing much came from both teams as they ended the match in a draw, earning one point each on the table.
Final Score: Manchester United 1-1 Stoke City
Stoke City looked great against Manchester as they were able to stop the Red Devils a couple of times. Arnautoviç and Crouch connected twice during the match, with one of the plays resulting in a goal by Shawcross. Geoff Cameron and Peter Crouch also had separate chances to get their team in the lead but neither was able to finish.
Manchester United continues to struggle in the back. The defense was very vulnerable with Phil Jones making many mistakes. Luke Shaw, Ander Herrera and Chris Smalling came back from injury and looked great in the field. For Louis Van Gaal, it seems like the injuries continue to haunt his team. Ashley Young stepped out in the 73rd minute with a hamstring injury and will be out for a couple of weeks. Manchester United also continued their undefeated streak with 7 wins and 3 ties since their first win against Crystal Palace back in November.
Manchester United sit in third place with 37 points, now 9 points behind both Chelsea and Manchester City. Stoke sits in 11th place with 26 points, 10 points behind Manchester United and 20 behind Chelsea.
Stoke City will face Arsenal January 11th while Manchester United will face Southampton the same day with hopes of taking both the win and the three points.
Photo by: Gareth Copley/Getty Images
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