United ease past Stoke City with a routine win

After 2 successive losses, a victory was badly in need for the reds. Now, if the losses were followed by a trip to Stoke, it could be an intimidating prospect but never a cakewalk. Stoke are known for the physicality and Sir Alex had to get the team right to match them in muscle. Vidic, back from injury and Ferdinand pairing at the centre and Jones manning the right back is the best you could ask for from the available defenders who can withstand the onslaught - physical. Kagawa made the cut as well but again was played in the left wing. Glancing at the eleven and looking at Rooney, RVP and Chicarito in the line up, I was thinking on a three pronged attack strategized by the manager. What followed took me completely by surprise as Rooney started in the middle with Carrick at his left. Is Rooney really going to be moulded in to a midfielder with the wealth of attacking options up front? How would Roy Hodgson respond?

                Once the game commenced, United started passing the ball between themselves slowly building the play up before earning a corner in the third minute. The resulting RVP’s corner kick was received by Phil Jones who could not connect and the ball fell at Carrick’s legs who toe poked it to the corner scoring his first of the season. The last time he scored was against Bolton some 15 months ago! If I thought the goal set the tempo for the game, I was wrong. United played like they cared for nothing and probably were kicking around at Carrington complex. A mention on the away supporters is a must as they were louder than the home support and kept singing one chant after the other cheering the team throughout.

United’s game plan was to have them carry the ball on the wings and cross them in to the box. This however applied only to Valencia as when I noticed Kagawa playing in LW, I knew we will not have the wing play on the left. He was drifting in more often positioning himself between Rooney and Carrick, not that I complain (yet). On the other hand, Stoke clearly didn’t have a plan in place to contain United and I guess they resorted to their usual style of long balls to the box from anywhere in the field. With no accuracy or a player running across to meet the ball, their attempts ended futile. With United dominating the lion’s share of possession, they could not find an incisive pass to the forwards to try shooting at the target. I was astounded to see Chicarito seeing very little or no action at one end (unhappy) and the same experienced by De Gea at the other (happy). This is where I blame Kagawa, for he was playing behind the strikers but could not carve the opposition at will. He was carrying the ball well and making simple passes which is commendable but then I don’t expect the basics from him. I would have wanted to see him being imaginative and creating chances rather than being a carrier.

Playing Stoke, one must always be on guard against the set pieces for that is where they thrive on. First half didn’t have any clear chances for them to take a shot at and anything thrown deep were easily cleared up by the United defence. As I was brooding on how come there has not been one rough challenge, Shawcross answered my virtual question immediately by bringing down Chicarito with a rough tackle few minutes before the end of the half. The game was played at a relaxed pace and United didn’t seem to score again. As the half came to an end, RVP looked like he may extend his unwarranted record for not scoring goals since “X” minutes and being compared with the blue's flop. To his credit however, the servicing from the midfield had deteriorated in the last few games and he was not being played into which means he had to create his own chances. But he was sharpish and was making the right runs except the right ball never came to him.

Goal scorers

As the second half unfolded, Stoke wanted to make amends to the scorecard and attacked United with zest. However, there was one part of their play which made me sick as well as laugh at the irony. For the muscular build their players possess, they were going down to the ground far too easily at the faintest of touches. Eight minutes in to the half, Chicarito picked out RVP with a wonderful pass and the Dutchman could only muster a rattling of the side netting. The angle was very acute though, if there was one, so it was a well tried attempt. This was immediately followed by some action in De Gea’s box where Jonathan Walters lashed a strike over the crossbar. With the long balls notwithstanding, Charlie Adam kept shooting from 40 yards and beyond which were powerful but well collected by the Spanish GK.

Emotional celebration - picture perfect

There was one other virtual question of mine which was answered immediately when posed. After an hour of game play, I was wondering if it was really a match with Stoke playing as the cards stayed put in the referee’s pocket. No sooner had I thought, Valencia was booked for a foul and saw a yellow. I didn’t expect United player to be the first being booked LOL. Two minutes later, RVP was tackled in the box by Andy Wilkinson and the referee wasted less than a second in pointing to the spot. It was a no brainer on who would take the penalty as RVP volunteered (?) and deposited the ball to the right corner. The drought was finally over and I could sense Arsenal fans across the globe simmering. Sir Alex was at the touchline when the goals ticker flicked to 2 and RVP rushed on towards the gaffer and crushed him with a tight embrace. It was one of those moments to be snapped away and could well be on its way to the front cover of sports magazines J. One goal lead is never safe as bellowed out by Martin Tyler in all the versions of FIFA (till 11 as I have not seen the last 2 versions) and the penalty took United to an unassailable position.

Barely tested De Gea was brought into play in the last 20 minutes with him making 2 stupendous saves especially the viciously curling free kick from Charlie Adam almost going into the far corner only to be denied by his outstretched hands. With twelve minutes remaining, both the teams made substitutions by Welbeck replacing Chicarito and Michael Owen coming on for Jonathan Walters. It was nice to see him getting a standing ovation from both the sets of fans, and United fans would have had the derby decider goal in their mind. Stoke switched to a 4-3-3 once Crouch made it to the field but could not muster any further shots on target as the devils played some keep-ball to wind down the remaining minutes and tighten their grip on a twentieth league title.

Takeaway from the game:

• Kagawa is miles behind in terms of the improvement he has to show if he needs to stake an automatic selection to the team.
• Rooney fitted to a T in the central midfield and his ball distribution was astute - MOM performance.
• RVP’s miserable 751 minutes on the field was brought to an end even if it was not from an open play.
• United have moved fifteen points ahead of their nearest rivals City who have one game in hand but we are more or less destined to lift the trophy at West Brom this may.