Manchester United drew 1-1 with Stoke City at Old Trafford earier today, but the scoreline did not reflect the performance of the Red Devils. United were fantastic right from the off, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic chief amongst the culprits who wasted gilt-edged chances as the Stoke City somehow held on for a goalless first half.
Anthony Martial came on and made an instant impact for Manchester United with a fantastic goal in the 69th minute. Just as it looked like the floodgates were about to open, back cam Stoke City. De Gea spilled a regulation shot, allowing Joe Allen to pounce and draw Stoke level in the 82nd minute, as the Potters held out for the draw.
Here’s how the managers and players reacted after the game:
Manchester United
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho
Jose made a surprising comment after the game, justifying his opinion thus “Best United performance all season. It could have been 3-0 or 4-0 at half-time, 6-0 at the end of the game, but the result was 1-1. But that's football. It was a much better performance than against Leicester. It was the best performance by far, six, seven, eight great chances to win the game. This United team is one that wants to score more goals and be completely in control.”
“In the first [second] minute their goalkeeper made an unbelievable save and he kept doing that until the end of the game. He started with an amazing save to Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] and ended with an amazing save from Zlatan. You can say what you want, but that's my opinion.”
“For me, a great performance. With a bad result, the reaction of the fans at the end of the game says absolutely everything. Stoke fought like they do every game. They came for a draw. They were lucky but luck is part of football and my tribute to them is that they're not guilty of our bad luck.”
Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera
Herrera agreed with his manager, saying “We did a fantastic game. It was one of our best performances this season, maybe the best. We created 10 or 11 clear chances. The goalkeeper was the best player for them, it should be maybe six or seven nil. That is why we cannot be happy but we played fantastic and controlled the game from the kick-off.”
“We were not lucky, we have to keep going. Hopefully next time we play another game like this we can win maybe five or six nil but this is football and we have to accept that.”
Stoke City
Stoke City manager Mark Hughes
Mark Hughes underlined his relief, saying “It's a huge result for us. We have started the season not as well as we hoped. We knew when we got points on the board then we'll still go close to the targets we set ourselves. It will be an unexpected point in the eyes of a lot of people.”
”I've seen it coming with the results recently and we have carried on in that ilk. We were solid and organised. We showed our fortitude and were not to be denied. We have been behind and gone a bit too gung-ho, but today we were patient. I think it's what we deserved.”
Soke City midfielder Joe Allen
Allen praised Stoke’s mentality, saying “To go a goal behind against a team like that and going on to get a point is a tough ask but we did it. You don't get many chances here and I thought that was going to be my only one. It was a well-earned point for us in the end.”
“You can see the effort that was there. We haven't been picking up many points but you can’t fault the effort of the lads. We knocked it around at times which is a good sign for the weeks to come.”
