Joe Allen scored a late equaliser to help Stoke City earn a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford. For long periods, Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United dominated possession but found themselves denied of the goals thanks to some outstanding goalkeeping by on-loan keeper Lee Grant.
United looked like they had the game in the bag after Anthony Martial came off the bench to give United a much-needed lead in the 65th minute. However, Stoke were able to capitalise on errors by Daley Blind and David de Gea to snatch an equaliser in the 82nd minute and leave Manchester United frustrated.
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Here are the talking points from the encounter at Old Trafford:
#1 Goalkeeper Lee Grant’s heroics keep Stoke afloat
As expected, it was one-way traffic for most of the game. United were dominant on the ball from the very first minute, moving it around nicely in midfield while also releasing full-backs Daley Blind and Antonio Valencia to inject some width into their play. However, it all came down to no avail thanks to some excellent goalkeeping by 33-year old Lee Grant.
He made a number of impressive saves, including a brilliant one to palm away Jesse Lingard’s shot from Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s whipping cross. The 33-year old - on loan from Derby County as cover-up for the injured Jack Butland – is a strong candidate for the Man of the Match for an amazing display in between the sticks to frustrate the home side.
#2 Stoke wasteful in possession and finishing
Mark Hughes would have been irked to see the manner in which his side lost the ball cheaply on numerous occasions in a bid to lay the counter-punch on Manchester United. The clearances made from the United penalty area didn’t really find the required target – Wilfried Bony. Even when Bony was found, he failed to hold the ball up for his teammates and his first touches were quite poor.
For all of United’s dominance, Stoke could have got the lead themselves at various points of the game, but were guilty of some average finishing. Geoff Cameron missed a couple of promising opportunities, both resulting in tame shots straight into David de Gea’s gloves.
Joe Allen also could not generate any pace in his shot from 10 yards out after rounding off Chris Smalling. Nonetheless, they would later grab an equaliser thanks to a double-error by the opposition.
#3 Anthony Martial makes an instant impact
For 60-odd minutes, United were kept at bay thanks to Lee Grant and some disciplined defending by Stoke City. Jose Mourinho decided that he had to ring the changes and brought on Anthony Martial along with Wayne Rooney with 25 minutes to go. Within minutes of being brought on, Anthony Martial provided the breakthrough that United desperately craved for after dominating proceedings.
A trademark dash towards the byline from the left by the Frenchman was followed by a low cross, which Wayne Rooney was unable to control. However, the clearance from a Stoke defender went straight back to Martial, who successfully found the far corner with a well-struck shot to put Mourinho’s side in front.
It was an inspired substitution, but United were victim to a late equaliser to cancel Martial’s effort out.
#4 Blind and De Gea errors gift Stoke the equaliser
Manchester United won’t just be frustrated by the fact that they couldn’t win a game they had every right to. The manner in which they allowed Stoke to get their equaliser will also be discussed at length in the next training session.
Firstly, it was Blind’s failure to hoof a harmless ball down the field - slicing it for a throw-in instead – which gave Stoke possession. Then it was David de Gea’s spill from a rather innocuous shot which gave Stoke another shot at finding the equaliser.
The shot, which succeeded de Gea’s mistake, ricocheted off the crossbar and came straight into the path of Joe Allen. The Welshman had no qualms in smashing the ball into an empty net and silencing the Old Trafford crowd. It was yet another 2 points unnecessarily dropped by Mourinho’s side in their quest to stay in the title race.
#5 United must be clinical in front of goal to stand a title chance
Like on countless occasions last season, United’s failure to convert possession into goals is yet again proving to be their Achilles Heel this campaign. Zlatan’s wastefulness and Paul Pogba’s erratic shooting from the edge of the box have been major issues for United over the past month.
No doubt Lee Grant was fantastic for the Potters, but United will definitely feel that their finishing has been lax. They should never have allowed Grant to make some of those saves he eventually made. If United have to sustain a title challenge, they must put teams like Stoke City out of sight.
At the moment, it is their shortcomings in the finishing department which need to be rectified in time for a very difficult set of fixtures in October.
