Stoke vs UNITED: Match Report

Peter Crouch celebrates his equaliser

Stoke 1-1 UNITED
Nani 27
Crouch 52

Our 100% record came to an end yesterday as we drew 1-1 with Stoke at the Britannia Stadium.

Wayne Rooney missed the game through a slight hamstring injury, it meant Dimitar Berbatov partnered Javier Hernandez up front. Jonny Evans was on the team sheet to start in central defence alongside Rio Ferdinand but an injury in the warm up forced a change with Antonio Valencia coming in at right back and Phil Jones moving to partner Ferdinand in the centre.

Four minutes into the game Hernandez needed treatment after colliding with the Stoke goalkeeper, an incident which could have seen us awarded a penalty. Jonathan Woodgate looked to go through the back of Hernandez to win the ball which resulted in the striker going into the goalkeeper and falling heavily. After a couple minutes the striker couldn't continue and was replaced by Michael Owen.

It was a feisty opening ten minutes where Stoke tried to intimidate us early on with their tough style of play, tackles were flying in which infuriated Sir Alex. Glenn Whelan the only Stoke player to be booked for a rash challenge on Patrice Evra.

Stoke's main attacking threat came from corners and Rory Delap's long throws. Many were expecting David De Gea to struggle in this game but he dealt with most corners and throw ins.

We weathered the early attack from Stoke and got ourselves together to take the lead. Nani played a one-two with Darren Fletcher, managed to wrong foot Woodgate and he slotted the ball passed Asmir Begovic. It was the wingers fifth goal this season.

Stoke almost equalised straight away but we had De Gea to thank. Andy Wilkinson found himself free in the box and hit a thunderous drive which De Gea brilliantly saved onto the bar and out for a corner. At the other end we could have doubled our lead but Nani hit the ball over the bar after a Begovic mistake.

We once again had De Gea to thank after Stoke continued to press. Jon Walters did well to get past two defenders before driving a low shot across goal, prompting a superb save from the Spaniard who got down quickly to flick the ball 'round the post. We went into half time with the lead.

Stoke continued to press in the second half through throw ins and corners. They finally used those to their advantage when Peter Crouch headed in the equaliser from a corner. The tall striker made a yard of space which allowed him to rise earliest between Jones and Ferdinand to nod the ballpast De Gea, who was rooted to his line.

The striker could have given Stoke the lead with another header from a corner but put the ball wide.

We had a decent shout for a penalty when Ryan Shawcross seemed to handle in the area to block a shot from Patrice Evra. The linesman put his flag up but the decision was an offside to Owen.

Sir Alex sent on Ryan Giggs and Danny Welbeck to replace Berbatov and Ashley Young. The former had a great chance to win us the game in the dying minutes. Nani with some great work down the left managed to get in a cross which found Giggs at the back post, the Welshman volleying wide after pressure from a Stoke defender and the goalkeeper.

The Britannia is a tough ground to go to and people will argue we were lucky to come away with anything whilst others will be disappointed we didn't pick up maximum points.

Team: De Gea 7, Valencia 6, Ferdinand 6, Jones 7, Evra 6, Nani 8, Fletcher 6, Anderson 6, Young 5 (Giggs 5), Berbatov 5 (Welbeck 5), Hernandez N/A (Owen 5)

To discuss the match, visit our forum and the match thread here: http://www.soccer24-7.com/forum/showthread.php?t=192146

Sparky