Stoke 2 - 2 United
Ahhh that was a bit of a reality check. We knew this was going to be our toughest game so far this season and it certainly was. Stoke will trouble any team when they play at home. They've already beaten Arsenal and now they've made us drop our first points and concede our first goals of the season. Our defending did make life a tad easier for them though. Bailly and Jones were awful today.
What Bailly and Jones were doing in the lead-up to the two goals we conceded, I don't know. They'll certainly have better days in front of our goalie. I've sung their praises after the first three matches but they are responsible for the two points dropped today. DDG made one stunning save but Stoke scored from the resulting corner. I think that's the first time I've mentioned DDG in this blog this season. That probably speaks heaps of the players in front of him. I was praising David after every game for the past 3 seasons or so. But anyway, Jones & Bailly let me down today.
Despite an average performance, we still managed to score two goals which is a big plus. We could have also won the game had Lukaku converted an excellent Martial cross. We had a couple of half chances too as Paul Pogba, our best player today, orchestrated proceedings from the middle of the pitch. Mkhitaryan made another superb assist which Lukaku should have converted at first go. Thankfully he got a second shot at it. Call me crazy but, despite scoring five goals, I am still not entirely convinced Lukaku is the type of striker that I like. I haven't seen him successfully take on a defender yet and sometimes his touch isn't that good. But we're only a few weeks into the season so there's a lot of time to convince me that he's not just a very powerful version of Chicharito. Oh, and well done Rashford for that brilliant goal....ha!
It was also good to see Herrera play his first game this season. To be honest, he really looked like a player lacking match fitness. He was slow with the ball at his feet and the passing wasn't the best. But his commitment is second to none and that's why it was good to see him back in the side. He'll be a very important squad player this season.
Am I disappointed? A bit, yes. We could have easily gotten out of the BET 365 stadium with full points. Two moments of lack of concentration from our defenders cost us two points. After seeing Man City annihilate Liveprool, we had to win the three points to deliver a statement right back at them. We will play Everton next in the Premier League, meanwhile the Champions League returns to Old Trafford this Tuesday! Exciting times ahead. Come on United!
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