Stoke City dug deep to hold Manchester United to a point in an eventful two all draw – with United retaining top spot in the Premier League. Having taking the lead, Stoke gained a point against the general run of play thanks to a sensational performance by Erik Maxim Choupo-Moting.
The opening moments of the game were used by both sides to test the waters, but Rashford looked the most threatening and likely to break the deadlock. Consistently getting in behind the Stoke back three, Jack Butland was forced into making multiple saves from Rashford’s efforts.
In what was a mostly uneventful first half, there would be drama at the very end, as Stoke took the lead with a well-worked move. Darren Fletcher picked out Mame Biram-Diouf with a long diagonal ball, who set up new signing Choupo-Moting to score his first Stoke City goal. A driven cross was met with a powerful finish, as the Cameroonian showed the desire to get in front of Eric Bailly – sending the Bet365 Stadium into pandemonium.
Unfortunately for the hosts, they would lose the lead moments before the break. A whipped corner found the head of Paul Pogba, whose effort deflected off of Marcus Rashford, beating Butland. Given their dominance on proceedings, it was a deserved goal for United, who had the majority of the chances. With the game all square at the break – the flurry of action at the end of the first half set the rest of the match up nicely.
United grasped the lead ten minutes into the second half, as Lukaku found the back of the net for the fourth time this season. A perfectly timed run by the striker was spotted by Henrik Mkhitaryan, who threaded the ball through to the big Belgian. His initial effort was saved by Butland, but Lukaku’s second bite of the cherry saw United score a deserved second goal.
Moments later, David De Gea pulled off one of the saves of the season to deny Stoke an equaliser. A tremendous finger tip-save denied Jese, whose volley flew directly at the Spanish keeper. From the resulting corner, Choupo-Moting would score his second of the evening with a bullet header from close range.
United continued to create chances – but looked susceptible to every Stoke counter attack set piece. Some late heroics by Butland earned Stoke the point, as the keeper staked his claim to be England number one by clearing off the line. Stoke will be the happier of the two sides, having held on despite United’s dominance.
