The Aftermath: Stoke 1-2 United

Chicharito 2, Stoke 1.

The Breakdown
Stoke 1-2 United

He started the big boys at the back (and Gary Neville) with Evra on left wing. Sir Alex demonstrates that he's not one to shy away from our calls for creativity.

In a nutshell, it was exactly the same as any game we'd had on the road this season - except this time, when we had the lead the second time, we managed to hold on.

Chicharito scores both goals, the first one an unorthodox, but effective, header—the second a fantastic example of 'positioning' in the box as he tapped in an Evra shot/cross.

We didn't have it all our own way during this game though, oh no.

The Potters had long spells of possession at times throughout both the first and second halves, and when they got their equaliser through Tuncay around the 80th minute, I thought "Here we f***ing go again. Why." and I was casting my mind back to the scathing review I was bound to put up on TSR.

But I must admit, it was a good finish. Better than the two goals we scored today in terms of execution... weeell... maybe not better than Chicharito's first one. Seriously, that boy and his weird goals.

As long as he keeps getting them.

First win on the road and it was well worked for, 2-1 FT.

Reaction
Overall, it was a tight game and we didn't really make any passes stick to be brutal. It didn't have the flow of a typical United match, but for away at Stoke, I'd say the ends justified the means.

I don't think I've ever done a post-match reaction that's been positive this season, so why not start here?

Stoke were typically physical, I thought, and had a barrage of attempts thrown (at times literally) into the box up to their big lads. Dangerman Kenwyne Jones had his moments where he was a nuisance, but I can't remember any solid chances he had which really threatened van der Sar. Props to our defence.

I'd mentioned how our passing wasn't up to the usual standard, but something which will be a bit of a concern was the inaccuracy of the passing—even from Scholes. Well, especially from Scholes. It was an errant touch from him which led to Stoke's equaliser and all the cameras pointed to him when that shot curled into the top corner from Tuncay.

But he made it up, in the end. He flicked a cross from Fletcher on to Evra, whose control with the chest and swivel-shot led to Chicharito's tap-in winner.

Which brings me nicely to our best player for the match: Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez. Not only for producing the goals which won us the match, but also for the energy, for the eagerness and the overall attitude he displayed on that pitch today. I think he was outstanding.

He doesn't have the finesse of Berbatov, he doesn't have the mesmerising dribbling skills of Nani (I really meant to say 'Ronaldo'...), but give him space in the box and he'll give you a chance, most likely on target, and in this case he won us the match. Excellent work!

Where We Stood, Where We Stand
The blockbuster game tonight involving Arsenal and Man City has JUST kicked off as I'm finishing this off, but we've moved up to 2nd for the time being.

1|Chelsea|9P|23GD|22PTS
2|United|9P|8GD|17PTS
3|Man. City|8P|8GD|17PTS
4|Spurs|9P|3GD|15PTS
------------------------
5|West Brom|9P|-1GD|15PTS

It was unconvincing, but that's the story of our season so far. On the plus side, it's a win on the road and points by any other game still count as much. (That's the best Shakespeare allusion I could come up with.)

Glory, glory!