Wayne Rooney’s record-breaking injury-time free-kick earned Manchester United a point at Stoke City and extended their unbeaten run to 17 games in all competitions.
Juan Mata’s own-goal in the first half gave Mark Hughes’ side the lead. United pressed hard for the majority of the game, missing a plethora of opportunities to equalise, before substitute Rooney’s wonderful free-kick from the edge of the box in the 94th minute drew them level.
Also read: Twitter celebrates as Wayne Rooney breaks two records with free-kick goal
The goal puts the Englishman on top of the all-time goal-scoring charts for Manchester United – the free-kick being his 250th in all competitions, eclipsing Sir Bobby Charlton’s 43-year-old record of 249 goals.
Take a look at how the players fared:
Stoke City
Lee Grant – 7
It was a shaky start for the goalkeeper as he dropped the ball in an attempt to catch it from a set piece. However, he made up for it with a number of excellent saves to keep United at bay.
Glen Johnson – 7
Though Johnson had a difficult outing in dealing with Mkhitaryan and Rashford individually, he made a number of vital clearances in the late stages of the game to preserve Stoke’s lead until the very last minute.
Bruno Martins Indi – 7.5
Martins Indi did a great job of standing firm under increasing pressure and making clearances aplenty to frustrate United.
Ryan Shawcross – 7
The Stoke skipper appeared to have an excellent communication with Martins Indi as they had an answer to every chance United eked out
Erik Pieters – 8
Pieters was absolutely fantastic on the left side for the Potters. Defensively, he managed to put a screw on Antonio Valencia. On the other side of the pitch, he made the perfect run into space to create the chance which led to Mata’s own goal.
Glenn Whelan – 7
Whelan was disciplined in front of his defence, ensuring that the likes of Pogba and Herrera were unable to dominate possession in midfield – forcing them to go long.
Charlie Adam - 6
Adam put in a hardworking performance in midfield, making interceptions to break up United’s moves and showing the willingness to press opposition players.
Xherdan Shaqiri – 7
The pocket-sized winger did not trouble the opposition defence as much as he was capable of, but he was instrumental in helping his side defend United’s wave of attacks. His exuberant shot from the edge of the box in the second half was well saved by David de Gea.
Joe Allen – 5
Allen was Stoke's liability in the game, losing possession multiple times and creating no key chances up front, limiting Stoke to attacks from the wings through Shaqiri and Arnautovic.
Marco Arnautovic – 7
Arnautovic had a fruitful partnership with Pieters down the left wing, exchanging passes and giving Juan Mata and Antonio Valencia a hard afternoon at the back. He provided the perfect ball to Pieters in the build-up to the own-goal.
Peter Crouch – 6.5
Though there was no 100th Premier League goal to celebrate for Crouch, he used his height to hold up the ball in the United half on several occasions and help his side create promising chances whenever they had possession.
Substitutes:
Ibrahim Afellay – 6
Afellay missed a good opportunity to kill the game off for Stoke in the 82nd minute, initiating a counter-attack but finding his tame cross easily pouched by de Gea.
Julien N’Goy – 5
N’Goy was hardly able to get a touch of the ball owing to incessant Manchester United pressure in the second half.
Gianelli Imbula – N/A
Imbula came in for the final few minutes but rarely enjoyed a sight of the ball.
Manchester United
David de Gea – 6
de Gea could have done better to deal with Pieters’ cross which deflected off Mata into his own net. He made one good save, however, diving to his left to save Shaqiri’s shot from outside the box.
Antonio Valencia – 6
Valencia was kept quiet by Pieters and was unable to find any space to surge forward and put in a cross. He did get balls into the box late in the game, but to no avail.
Phil Jones – 7
Jones had a solid game, not giving Peter Crouch any room to get a shot away. He could not be faulted for the own-goal.
Chris Smalling – 7
Like Jones, Smalling also had a decent game, defending set-pieces and crosses with conviction.
Daley Blind – 6
Blind made a number of runs down the left flank, but saw his crosses and corners well dealt with by Stoke’s defenders.
Marouane Fellaini – 5
Fellaini looked threatening in the air, but the Belgian is nowhere near Carrick when it comes to dictating play in midfield. There was no fluidity in United’s passing and movement of the ball with him at the heart of midfield.
Ander Herrera – 6
Herrera was present all over United’s midfield, attempting to drive his side forward with some incisive passing. However, Stoke City’s wall of defence stood tall.
Juan Mata – 4
It was a day to forget for the Spanish playmaker. An unfortunate own-goal, a glaring missed opportunity, inability to track back Erik Pieters and a number of misplaced passes characterised his performance at the Bet365 stadium.
Paul Pogba – 7
After a reserved first half, Pogba was more expressive in the second half, pirouetting past players and picking out passes to give United a host of chances to draw level.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 7
The Armenian had an impressive game, haring at Glen Johnson on the flank and occasionally threatening to open up Stoke City’s defence with some probing solo runs. He was surprisingly hauled off for Jesse Lingard as he seemed to be United’s best player on the pitch.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 6
Ibrahimovic had a couple of decent opportunities in the first half, opting to cut the ball across goal for a team-mate rather than attempt a shot.
Substitutes:
Marcus Rashford – 7
Rashford added a new dimension to United’s play since coming on, using his pace and fleet-footedness to win individual duels and get into dangerous positions in the Stoke penalty area.
Wayne Rooney – 7
A world-class free-kick in injury time to snatch a point for United put Rooney in the record books as United’s all-time record goal-scorer. It was a reward for positivity shown by the skipper since coming on, creating a number of chances while also getting a handful of shots away in an attempt to cancel out Mata’s own-goal
Jesse Lingard – 5
Lingard used his pace to get in behind Stoke’s tiring defence, but was unable to apply the finishing touch despite getting a couple of decent opportunities.
