Manchester United 3-0 Stoke City: Lingard, Martial & Rooney down Potters

Posted Wednesday, February 03, 2016 by goal.com

The Red Devils, who were beaten by Southampton in their last Premier League game, proved too strong for Mark Hughes's side as they cruised to victory at Old Trafford

Manchester United ended their long wait for a first-half goal at home as they eased the pressure on Louis van Gaal with a comfortable 3-0 win over Stoke City on Tuesday.

United, who had not netted in the opening 45 minutes at Old Trafford since a 2-1 Champions League victory over Wolfsburg on September 30, got back to winning ways in the league in fine style.

Van Gaal's men responded to their home defeat to Southampton with a 3-1 win at Derby County in the FA Cup and carried the momentum into the visit of Stoke - whose recent disappointing form continued.

Stoke won the reverse fixture on Boxing Day 2-0, but this encounter represented a complete sea change from the one at the Britannia Stadium, with Jesse Lingard needing just 14 minutes to head United in front.

Nine minutes later United were 2-0 up thanks to Anthony Martial's superb finish and there proved to be no way back for a Stoke side that has won only one of their last five league matches.

Skipper Wayne Rooney put the game beyond doubt with a simple strike in the 53rd minute as United shook off their boring tag to boost hopes they can finish in the top four.

United started brightly and finally broke their first-half duck courtesy of Lingard, who capitalised on sloppy Stoke defending to turn home Cameron Borthwick-Jackson's low-left wing cross with a diving header.

Martial wasted a decent opportunity to double the lead by shooting into the side-netting but quickly atoned for that miss in stunning fashion as he finished off a wonderfully-worked attacking move, collecting a magnificent cross-field ball from Rooney and curling into the top-right corner.

Stoke's cause was dealt a further blow after half-an-hour when Philipp Wollscheid was withdrawn due to injury and replaced by Phil Bardsley.

The visitors almost pulled one back four minutes later when Jonathan Walters shot narrowly over from close-range as United failed to deal with a corner.