Manchester United crashed to an abysmal 0-2 defeat at the hands of Mark Hughes' Stoke City, courtesy of two first half goals by Bojan and Marko Arnautovic. The former opened the scoring for the hosts in the 19th minute after Memphis Depay's horrific back pass was picked up by Glen Johnson and crossed into the path of Bojan, who toe-poked the ball past Phil Jones.
Arnautovic scored Stoke's second with an unstoppable strike just outside the area. The defeat meant that United have now lost four games on the trot. Let's find out how each player performed.
David de Gea - 6/10
The Spanish goalkeeper had a decent game. He couldn’t have done much about either of Stoke City’s goals, as he was dragged out wide for the first and had absolutely no chance of getting anywhere near Marko Arnautovic’s bullet for the second. De Gea made some decent saves off Bojan in the second half but sadly, the damage had already been done.
Ashley Young - 5/10
The English winger struggled to cope with Stoke left-back Erik Pieters early on in the game. Although, as the game progressed, the Dutch full back’s influence also decreased gradually. Young’s main cause for concern all afternoon was Arnautovic, who time and again cut in or simply darted in behind the former Aston Villa man, who simply failed to trace the Austrian internationals intricate movements. He played a bit better in the second half, moving forward more regularly and also nutmegging a Stoke defender.
Chris Smalling - 5/10
Chris Smalling was arguably United’s best player for the most part of this season. Although, since returning from injury, the 26-year-old seems to have lost his magical touch of form. There were times earlier this season when you could blindly trust Smalling to deal with almost any forward, but that belief is slowly diminishing. The former Fulham man was outdone by the pace and trickery of Bojan, strength of Markovic and a combination of all three from Xherdan Shaqiri.
Phil Jones - 6/10
Like Smalling, Phil Jones didn’t enjoy the best of outings either but looked defensively sound at times. He made some runs forward with the ball at his feet in the second half and also delivered some decent crosses into the path of the forward players but despite trying hard, couldn’t make a very big difference.
Daley Blind - 4/10
The Dutchman was trusted with the task of keeping Shaqiri at bay and failed miserably in his task. Blind was harrowed by Shaqiri’s pace, strength and trickery time and again. His abysmal attempt at getting a cross into the box at the end of the first half just summed up how badly United were playing. Sadly for him, the situation didn’t change in the second half either.
Michael Carrick - 4/10
This was a game where it was actually pretty difficult to spot Michael Carrick, leave alone discussing about what good or bad he did. United’s captain for the day was a mere spectator throughout the afternoon. Often tasked with the responsibility of controlling the tempo of the match, Carrick was left chasing his own shadows by Stoke’s pacey front line.
Ander Herrera - 4/10
This was probably Ander Herrera’s worst game in a United shirt. When the starting line-up was announced, fans were delighted to see him start but unfortunately, he couldn’t do anything noteworthy. He constantly jostled for possession with Stoke’s physically intimidating midfielders and more often that not, lost the battle. His otherwise amazing passing skills took a beating due to the annoying wind which didn’t help his cause.
Marouane Fellaini - 3/10
van Gaal might have thought that using a tall, imposing figure in the number ten role might just help United overcome Stoke’s physically astute defense but much to the Dutchman’s disappointment, Fellaini could do absolutely nothing of that sort. In fact, what he did was slowed down United’s play, give away stupid fouls and handle the ball with his hand in the penalty box on two occasions. He should’ve buried a chance which fell to him the middle stages of the second half when he was eyeball-to-eyeball with Jack Butland, but he failed to do that too.
Juan Mata - 4/10
The dynamic Spaniard was isolated on the right wing and could do absolutely nothing in the first half other than spotting Herrera’s run in the dying moments of the first half with a decent cross. He got a bit more involved in the game in the second half when United were looking to pull one goal back. All he could do is force Butland to pull off a fantastic save at his right post with a powerful shot with his weak foot.
Memphis Depay - 4/10
The former PSV man endured a torrid day and was guilty of gifting Stoke their first goal today. He lost the ball on several occasions in the first half and just looked very disinterested. His lack of strength to hold off opponents, same technique of cutting in and trying to have a pop at goal is a cause of major concern. Needs to improve massively.
Anthony Martial - 6/10
United’s most expensive teenager tried hard but failed to spark any bit of magic. He was left isolated up top for the most part of the first half and should’ve been booked for a blatant dive too. He was shifted to the left wing in the second half but couldn’t make a difference nonetheless. His most notable contribution was a finesse shot from the edge of the penalty box which forced Butland to make an amazing save at his bottom right corner.
SUBSTITUTIONS:
Wayne Rooney – 6.5/10
Andreas Pereira - NA