Premier League Half-time report: Stoke City Vs Manchester United
Venue: Britannia Stadium
Score Line: 0-1(Javier Hernandez 27’)
Starting XI for Stoke City: Thomas Sorensen, Robert Huth, Ryan Shawcross, Abdoulaye Faye, Dany Collins, Jermaine Pennant, Mark Wilson, Rorry Delap, Matthew Etherington, Jon Walters, Kenwyne Jones.
Subs: Azmir Begovic, Dany Higginbotham, Glenn Whelan, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Dany Pugh, Tuncay Sanli, Andy Wilkinson
Starting XI for Manchester United: Edwin Van der Sar, Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Darren Fletcher, John O'Shea, Paul Scholes, Nani, Javier Hernandez, Dimitar Berbatov.
Subs: Thomasz Kuszczak, Wes Brown, Chris Smalling, Michael Carrick, Gabriel Obertan, Federico Macheda, Darren Gibson.
18 time Premier league Champions Manchester United were looking for their first away win of the season when they travelled to Britannia Stadium to face Stoke City. Stoke are currently 13th in the Premier League table while United are third. United
is the only undefeated team in the Premier League, but need this win order to keep firm in the premier league. Chelsea’s win against Wolves yesterday have given them an 8 point team over the Red Devils.
United used their best combination in the Premier League, with veteran Gary Neville resuming his position as right back. United employed a 4-3-3 formation, with Berbatov, Hernandez and Nani taking the attack. The hosts were slightly better in the opening
exchanges, but United swept them off with a beautiful counter attack. However, Mexican striker Hernandez couldn’t finish off that move.
It was an evenly matched encounter with Stoke having 53% possession in the opening 25 minutes. However, a cleverly taken corner from Nani found skipper Nemanja Vidic, who headed the ball towards Hernandez. The Mexican used the back of his head intentionally
to find the back of the net. The Mexican has made it 2 goals out of 2 starts in the Premier League this season, taking his goal tally to 2 goals from 4 Premier League appearances and has a bright future at the club should he keep playing like this.
At the half time whistle, the visitors lead by a single goal by Mexican forward Javier Hernandez and would want to add to this lead in order cement their first away win of the season. Gary Neville should be replaced by manager Sir Alex Ferguson, as the veteran
has already gotten a yellow card and doesn’t seem to be in his stride.
Tags: