Manchester United moved to within one point of third in the Premier League table courtesy of a 2-1 victory over Stoke City at Old Trafford this evening.
Marouane Fellaini notched his first home goal for the club with a towering header to open the scoring in the 21st minute, but Steven N'Zonzi restored parity shortly before the break.
Juan Mata appeared to get the winner for the hosts when his cross from a free kick went all the way through and nestled into the far corner, although Marcos Rojo claimed that he got a touch to the ball.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at an eventful 90 minutes of football.
Match statistics
MAN UTD
Shots: 10
On target: 3
Possession: 64%
Corners: 2
Fouls: 8
STOKE
Shots: 5
On target: 4
Possession: 36%
Corners: 2
Fouls: 13
Was the result fair?
The late flurry of action in this match makes it tough to decide whether Manchester United deserved their victory today. They escaped with the win by the skin of their teeth in the end, with David de Gea being forced into a couple of world-class saves late on and Ashley Young making a crucial clearance off the line.
Stoke certainly had their chances to get something out of the game, then, but they all came in a two-minute spell at the very end of the match. For the rest of the 90 minutes, United seemed in control, keeping possession confidently and playing the game at their own pace. They were by no means knocking on the Stoke door throughout, but even at 1-1 they looked the most likely to go on and win the game.
Ander Herrera and Fellaini both missed great chances for United in the first half and, while Stoke's frantic finale means that they actually had more clear openings than the hosts, over the whole night United were certainly the better team. They were perhaps fortunate not to concede an equaliser late on, but they deserve all three points.
Man Utd's performance
An issue for United this season has been their failure to dominate matches from start to finish, often allowing teams back into the game late on. That almost happened again tonight as only some heroic last-ditch defending prevented them from dropping two points in a match that they had controlled for 92 of the 94 minutes played.
The hosts were decent in possession for the most part this evening, although there was a lack of creativity at times in the absence of Angel di Maria and Wayne Rooney. Robin van Persie was very quiet, with United's two goals coming from crosses into the box and very little going through the Dutch striker. Having said that, they did create enough chances to have had a more comfortable lead going into the closing stages, but they were not clinical enough in front of goal.
It is another deserved victory for the Red Devils, but Louis van Gaal will know that there is still plenty of room for improvement. Even so, if they can keep on picking up wins then a return to the Champions League will edge closer and closer. They have now won four on the bounce and could move up into third with a win in their next match depending on results tomorrow.
Stoke's performance
Stoke's gameplan in this match was very clear. They rarely had players inside the United half when the hosts had the ball, instead trying to pack out their own half and strike on the break once they won possession back. Defensively, they carried it out fairly well, frustrating United for long periods and limiting them to just three shots on target.
However, they offered very little in attack until the closing stages. N'Zonzi's fine goal was the only time they threatened De Gea until the 93rd minute, when suddenly they began to pile the pressure on Van Gaal's side. Mame Biram Diouf will be wondering exactly how he didn't score one of his two glorious chances late on, and Mark Hughes will feel that his side should have got something out of the game after such an action-packed ending.
That they came so close may be cause for optimism, but at the end of the day it is another defeat for Stoke. They played well against Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday and got nothing, and once again they were sent packing with no points tonight. Easier matches will come, but results do need to pick up soon for the Potters.
Sports Mole's man of the match
David de Gea: Perhaps a strange choice for man of the match considering he had very little to do until the final two minutes of stoppage time, but his world-class stops in that period saved all three points for his side. His first save to deny Diouf was superb, while the second from Marko Arnautovic showed great bravery to throw himself in the way of the ball. Other players were more involved throughout, but De Gea's contribution in the end was as important as anyone else's.
Biggest gaffe
Diouf did miss two glorious chances late on, but Asmir Begovic was guilty of the biggest gaffe tonight as he passed the ball straight to Van Persie inside his own box. He telegraphed his pass and then put nowhere near enough on it as the Dutchman collected the ball and rolled it to Ander Herrera. Luckily for Begovic he got away with it as Herrera blazed his effort over the crossbar.
Referee performance
Jonathan Moss and his officials had two big decisions to make this evening. The first came when Geoff Cameron caught James Wilson inside the box, although that decision could have gone either way. The second came with the winning goal as Rojo appeared to be marginally offside when going for Mata's free kick. Whether he got a touch or not, it could be argued that he was interfering with play and, as a result, the goal should not have stood.
What next?
Man Utd: Next up for United is a tricky away match against high-flying Southampton next Monday.
Stoke: Things don't get much easier for Stoke as they host Arsenal at the Britannia on Saturday.
Barney Corkhill
