United revival gathers momentum

Juan Mata and Marcos Rojo both claimed the winner as Manchester United survived a nerve-jangling finish to beat Stoke 2-1 at Old Trafford.

Mata was credited with the decisive strike after his 59th-minute cross from a free-kick appeared to bounce straight in, although Rojo celebrated as if he had got a faint touch.

There was great drama in injury time as David de Gea produced two brilliant saves to deny Mame Biram Diouf and Marko Arnautovic, before Ashley Young then sensationally cleared off the line from Diouf.

It secured a fourth successive Barclays Premier League win for United – who had been without captain Wayne Rooney – but only by the skin of their teeth.

Marouane Fellaini, a player who came to embody the wretched reign of David Moyes as Manchester United manager, enjoyed an eventful evening.

This was a contest that displayed the good and the bad of a player who will forever be remembered for having followed Moyes from Goodison for a price that, even in the inflated times of modern Premier League football, appeared a shocking piece of transfer business.

The Belgian international was on hand after 21 minutes when Mata found Ander Herrera lurking on the left wing and the far-post cross saw Fellaini easily beat Pieters to head in from four yards.

It was a simple goal, one that was Fellaini’s stock-in trade when he was making his name in English football under Moyes at Everton, but if a simple, single header could ever epitomise the impact made by Moyes’ successor Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford, this was it.

But after 39 minutes, Fellaini was instrumental in Stoke’s equaliser as he was pushed off the ball far too easily by Oussama Assaidi.

Bojan Krkic consequently advanced into the United box where he was blocked by the heel of Chris Smalling, the ball breaking kindly for Steven N’Zonzi whose magnificent, first-time right-foot strike flew past the dive of David de Gea into the United goal.

Still, Fellaini’s half was not done. Just before the interval, a United free-kick found Smalling whose shot was intercepted by the Belgian who should have done better than direct his shot at the goalkeeper from six yards.

There would be a similar, if less glaring miss, from an Herrera cross in the second half but, even allowing for those errors, there was no doubting that this latest United success shows yet more progress for player and team alike. Injuries, as much as any van Gaal masterplan, have allowed Fellaini to establish himself in a resurgent United side that has now won four consecutive league games and looks well capable of qualifying for Champions League football next season.

And while the enforced absences, through injury, of Rooney and Angel di Maria denied them an attacking dimension last night, they still created more than enough chances to have won far more comfortably.

Keeper Asmir Begovic almost gifted Robin van Persie an early goal with a clearance directly to the Dutchman who squared for Herrera whose hurried shot cleared the bar by some distance from only 15 yards.

The exchange of goals could not conceal United’s superiority and they continued to demonstrate it on the restart with teenage forward James Wilson, a replacement for Rooney, bringing the energy and enthusiasm that only a 19-year-old can.

Old Trafford, warming to this new-look van Gaal side almost by the week, practically burst into flames when Wilson burst half the length of the field from a Mata pass after 69 minutes although the youngster showed his years with a hurried shot that missed the mark.

There was also yet another opportunity for Fellaini, this time from a selfless van Perssie pass, which the midfielder flashed disappointingly wide.

Smalling was afforded a late chance to show his recent improvements with a magnificent clearing header from a Marko Arnautovic cross but the real danger was to come after two of the four minutes of added time had been played.

First, a Krkic free-kick was flicked to the far post where former United reserve Mame Diouf connected with a diving header that was superbly saved by de Gea who, soon after, made an equally impressive stop to deny Marko Anautovic with Ashley Young clearing off the United line after Diouf looked certain to equalise from the rebound.

MANCHESTER UNITED (4-2-2-2): De Gea 7; Valencia 6, Smalling 7, Rojo 7, Young 7; Carrick 7, Fellaini 7; Mata 8 (Januzaj 90), Herrera 7 (Fletcher 85); J Wilson 7 (Falcao 77), Van Persie 6.

STOKE CITY (4-4-2): Begovic 6; Bardsley 5, Shawcross 7, M Wilson 7, Pieters 5; Ireland 5 (Arnautovic 82), N’Zonzi 7, Cameron 6, Assaidi 7 (Crouch 76, 6); Bojan 8, Diouf 5.

Referee: J Moss 7