Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw by a resilient Stoke City side at Old Trafford this afternoon, with journeymen goalkeeper Lee Grant starring for the visitors. It was a peculiar game, because the game was goalless at the break despite United’s most convincing and fluent 45 minutes of the season.
Jesse Lingard and Zlatan Ibrahimovic tested Grant, with Mourinho’s side firmly in control and Stoke penned in. United’s tempo dropped significantly in the second half, but just as Mark Hughes’ side were looking comfortable, Anthony Martial swept the hosts into the lead.
However, Joe Allen popped up to rescue a point with the easiest of tap ins after David de Gea had split a long range shot. The point stops the bleeding for the Potters, who have benefited from a change of formation. There were plenty of positives in United’s performance, but the result was two more dropped points with some exacting fixtures ahead. We looked at three things we learned from today’s game.