Manchester United 3-0 Stoke City: 5 Talking Points

Score: Manchester United 3 - 0 Stoke City

Goalscorers: Antonio Valencia 9' (Paul Pogba assist), Anthony Martial 38' (Pogba assist), Romelu Lukaku 72' (Martial assist)

Manchester United closed the gap to Manchester City to 12 points, while drawing 3 clear of Liverpool and Chelsea behind them as they closed out a comfortable home win against Stoke City, who are still firmly rooted in the relegation zone.

Here, then, are the 5 key talking points from the rainy, rainy, night at Old Trafford:

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#5 Time to stop questioning Jose Mourinho's man-management skills

Jose Mourinho is happy to see his charges' performances steadily improving

Luke Shaw has come leaps and bounds from the inconsistent figure Mourinho first found at United. Anthony Martial is finally finding the strain of consistency that could help him mould his world-class potential into actual world-class performances. Jesse Lingard has... phew! Jesse Lingard has become one of the most exciting talents in the league.

All three players were criticised at one point or the other of the first season by Mourinho, and the Portuguese was in turn publicly lambasted for the way he handled them - the Special One's answered those critics in the best way possible.

Maybe, after nearly two decades in management, it's time to give the Devil the credit he is due? (Understanding the Devil inside Jose Mourinho)

Added bonus, the players he has always trusted are performing better than ever before: Antonio Valencia has scored 3 Premier League goals this season in 19 appearances. That's as many as his last 4 seasons (103 appearances) combined.

They missed the Ecuadorian in December, and the way he looked at Joe Allen after the Welshman flew into a tackle and bounced off him like a paper plane does off a rhinoceros, encapsulated the renewed solidity that United have down their captain's right flank.

#4 Peter Crouch's unique skill-set needs to be utilised by Paul Lambert

Peter Crouch is as difficult to defend as ever - as Chris Smalling found out the hard way

Stoke City are still rooted in the relegation zone, 20 points in 23 games, and the incoming manager - Paul Lambert, who saw the game from the stands at Old Trafford - has his task cut out.

While there are plenty of negatives to focus on, the Potters will, though, take encouragement from the way they were able to create chance after chance in the first half (although their finishing was lamentable), the powerful running and smart play of debutant Moritz Bauer, the return of Stephen Ireland (who's off-the-ball runs are as clever as ever) and the sporadic magic of Xherdan Shaqiri.

Most of all, though, Lambert is likely to draw optimism from the fact that even at the ripe old age of 36, Peter Crouch is as un-defendable as ever. If he can get a consistent, injury-free run out of the veteran Englishman, and if he can drill his team into a system that utilises Crouch's obvious strengths, he - and Stoke - should still be in the Premier League come 2018-19. But he doesn't have much time:

Their next four fixtures are - Huddersfield (H), Watford (H), Bournemouth (A) and Brighton (H) - if they can't gain points here...

#3 Paul Pobga. Oh, Paul Pogba.

General Paul Pogba was exceptional in midfield

By far the best player on the pitch on the night (as with most nights), Paul Pogba's lazy athleticism and incisive vision helped United take the game away from their guests - and his numbers make for some very interesting reading.

The Frenchman is now tied on the top of the Premier League assists charts with Kevin de Bruyne and Leroy Sane (9 assists) - thing is Pogba has played just 1172 PL minutes compared to Sane's 1456 and de Bruyne's 1964.

While the two assists he notched up in this game seemed to be fairly straightforward ones - more down to the goalscorer's individual talent than anything else - they weren't as simple as they looked.

The first one for Valencia involved him bullying Ireland away, and bending the ball away from Choupo-Moting with the outside of his boot, while in the second one to Martial he stood still, assessed his options, drew defenders to him before playing the pass with just the right weight on it.

United are yet to lose a PL game this season when Pogba has featured, and it's easy to see why.

The effervescent Aakanksh Sanketh wrote at the beginning of the season, Paul Pogba is here to take over the league - and were it not for those 10 games he missed, United might not have been so far adrift of their noisy neighbours.

#2 Romelu Lukaku's work ethic shines through

Romelu Lukaku exults after scoring

Lambasted for his poor goal return after a flurry at the start of the season, the big Belgian will take heart from not just the fact that he scored, but the manner of the goal as well - controlling Martial's rifled pass on his chest, holding off Kevin Wimmer and Bruno Martins-Indi with absurd ease, and threading the eye of the needle with the finish.

Goals maketh strikers, but Jose Mourinho would have also been pleased with the way his marquee signing played. Lukaku was on the same boat as the out-of-form Alvaro Morata at Chelsea and Alexandre Lacazette at Arsenal - but for one aspect; his contribution to the team play and that's the one aspect that Mourinho craves in his men.

On the night, as he has been almost always this season, Lukaku tirelessly ran the channels, drifting out wide to the right to allow Jese Lingard and Juan Mata free reign in the middle, whipping in some sublime balls (the best crosser-from-the-wings on the pitch, it's a pity he can't get on the end of one his own crosses) and using his size and strength to hold up play and bully defenders constantly.

Still just 24, he's only going to get better.

#1 Alexis Sanchez might just be the 'Chemical X' United require

Will Alexis Sanchez say "hello" to the United faithful this month?

No, I am not claiming that Alexis Sanchez has signed a deal with United - while there are various rumours and reports floating around, they are all unsubstantiated, nothing official, nothing confirmed.

But using a touch of common sense and logic, putting various quotes and incidents into context using the little bit of intuition I've gained over the years of following football, I am going to state that in my educated opinion Arsenal, Sanchez, and United are close to agreeing a deal. Jose Mourinho said after the match, "I am not confident, but also not unconfident. Just relaxed and we have the feeling that he is an Arsenal player. We have the feeling that he can stay there. But also the feeling that he can move and if he moves, I think we have a chance" - as clear an indication as any.

If Sanchez were to join United, his is the kind of individualistic, will-do-anything-to-win kind of attacking talent that Mourinho loves to have on his side, and could just be the dose of world-class talent + experience that could take Manchester United to the next level. If.

An attack of Martial - Lukaku - Sanchez (and Lingard) all playing in front of Pogba? Scary thought for any defence in the league.