#sports Manchester United 3-0 Stoke City: FULL TIME
LINEUP
Henrikh Mkhitaryan Is not in Manchester United's XVIII apparently because his head 'is not in the right place'.
Man Utd De Gea; Valencia, Jones, Smalling, Shaw; Pogba, Matic; Mata, Lingard, Martial; Lukaku.
Substitutes Joel Pereira, Lindelof, Rojo, Ander Herrera, Fellaini, McTominay, Rashford.
Stoke City Butland; Bauer, Zouma, Martins Indi, Tymon; Fletcher, Allen; Shaqiri, Ireland, Choupo-Moting; Crouch.
Substitutes Grant, Edwards, Wimmer, Afellay, Adam, Diouf, Sobhi.
Referee Anthony Taylor (Wythenshawe).
1 min: Kick Off
1 min: It took 35 seconds for United to touch the ball. Then Valencia launches it downfield to nobody, and Stoke have it back again.
4 mins: Martial gets into space on the left of the penalty area, but his cross hits a defender, pings into another defender, and is cleared.
7 mins: Mata clips the ball into the area, where Martial has got in front of Bauer. Both players go a-tumbling, and the Stoke debutant had his arms around the Frenchman when they did so. Not exactly an assault, but probably a foul. The referee waves play on.
9 min: GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Stoke (Valencia)
What a hit! An absolute peach from the United right-back!
13 mins: That is only the 6th time Antonio Valencia has kicked the ball with his left foot in his entire Manchester United career.”
17 mins: Stoke find space on the right, and Bauer passes to Ireland, who has the freedom of the penalty area. The ball forces him to control with his back to goal, and he spins and fires wide.FacebookTwitterGoogle plus
19 mins: Lingard is tripped by Allen, a couple of yards outside the penalty area, and United have a fine shooting chance.
20 mins: Mata hits it into the wall.
21 mins: Ooooh! Ireland, in the centre circle, passes to the right and starts running. It’s moved inside to Shaqiri, who touches to Ireland, now bursting into the penalty area, and he shoots just wide!
25 mins: Stoke nearly score again! A long cross from the right is nodded down by Crouch, with De Gea committed but nowhere, and Jones somehow gets in the way of Choupo-Moting’s shot!
29 mins: Lukaku is in the penalty area for the corner, but the ball isn’t, as it’s played short and then crossed half-heartedly. Shaw runs onto the clearance and slams in a shot from 35 yards, which Butland gathers.
31 mins: United win another corner, and play this one short as well. Lingard does eventually cross this time, but Butland catches, fumbles, and catches again.
36 mins: Pogba strikes a ludicrous 50-yard pass downfield and into the path of Shaw, who catches it just before it rolls out of play and pulls back to Martial, whose shot deflects wide. United take the corner short, and nothing comes of it. Again.
38 min: GOAL! Manchester United 2-0 Stoke (Martial)
Lukaku is on the right again. This time he passes infield to Pogba, who passes further infield to Martial, who curls a brilliant right-foot shot into the top corner from 22 yards!
42 mins: Mata’s fine pass finds Martial, who controls, shimmies, twists and prods a pass to Lukaku, running into the area. Any kind of half-decent control would have left him with a simple finish, but he couldn’t quite bring it under his spell.
45+2 mins: Into stoppage time. Shaqiri controls brilliantly, cuts past the onrushing Jones, and sends a stinging low shot towards the corner. De Gea makes a difficult save look easy.
45 min: HALF TIME
46 mins: They’re back under way, and Stoke have brought Kevin Wimmer on for the second half, taking off Josh Tymon.
49 mins: Pogba plays the ball through to Martial, but Butland races from his line to reach it first.
54 mins: Pogba chips a pass to Lukaku, who controls on his chest and attempts to flick it over his shoulder and back to Pogba, but instead hits himself in the face.
55 mins: He then span and blasted a decent left-footed shot at goal, to be fair. Butland saved.
Stoke City’s Moritz Bauer
59 mins: Not sure how United failed to score here. Pogba crosses low from the left; Martial controls it, somehow bounces between Wimmer and Martins Indi, and then sidefoots a low shot from eight yards that goes straight to Butland.
60 mins: Stoke take off Choupo-Moting, and bring on Ramadan Sobhi.
63 mins: Lingard trips Fletcher, and is booked.67 mins: Jones brings the ball out from defence, shimmies past a few Stoke midfielders in unlikely style and passes to Lukaku, who goes down under a fairly humdrum challenge from Martins Indi, bounces up and squares up to the Stoke defender aggressively. Lukaku is booked.
67 mins: Jones brings the ball out from defence, shimmies past a few Stoke midfielders in unlikely style and passes to Lukaku, who goes down under a fairly humdrum challenge from Martins Indi, bounces up and squares up to the Stoke defender aggressively. Lukaku is booked.
68 mins: And another booking, this time for Ireland, for cynically clipping Mata’s ankles.
72 mins: GOAL! Manchester United 3-0 Stoke (Lukaku)
Finally United stick a chance away! Lingard runs 60 yards and passes to Martial, who pings it at pace into Lukaku’s chest inside the area. It drops at his feet, and he shifts it onto his left foot and slams it inside the near post!
74 mins: This half has been kind of like the first, except without Stoke having any chances or doing at all well at anything.
75 mins: It’s raining so hard, hope it won't be postponed.
79 mins: Pogba crosses from the right, and Mata magics an over-the-shoulder flick that takes it towards Lukaku. It hits the post, but the flag is up.
80 mins: United make their first substitutions, bringing off Lingard and Martial and bringing on Fellaini and Rashford.
81 mins: His team are 3-0 up with the game in their pocket, but when Mata is found on the right in an excellent crossing position and succeeds only in picking out a defender, he screams at himself in rage, frustration and wild self-loathing.
83 mins: That will be Mata’s final contribution to the evening’s entertainment, with Scott McTominay replacing him.
86 mins: An amazing chance for Stoke! The ball’s lifted into the area, Smalling totally misjudges it and Diouf’s chest control opens up half an area’s worth of space. He blasts in a shot that De Gea saves, and then slams the rebound wide with Ireland unmarked at the far post!
90 mins: United have a corner and don’t take it short. Instead, Rashford crosses to the defender at the near post. Still, Stoke clear straight back to a red shirt, Rashford is picked out again, and he dances into the box and sends a low shot straight at Butland.
90+3 mins: Pogba ends an excellent performance by curling high and wide from the free kick, and that’s it!
