Manchester United waste golden chance to stake Top 4 claim

Manchester United’s draw with Stoke City on Saturday was the reason why expletives were invented. Not that they provided much comfort. After Wayne Rooney’s sublime injury time equaliser only United fans of a blindingly upbeat disposition could think of it as a positive result.

It wasn’t. Liverpool’s shock home defeat to Swansea City in the early kick-off gave Manchester United the chance to put pressure on their bitterest of rivals, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, as well as Arsenal. If they’d won they’d have been within four points of each of them. Instead, following their draw, they’re still down in sixth, the gap to fourth wasn’t significantly squashed, and the opportunity to get right into the mix of the top four huddle from which they could have looked to cement a Champions League berth has passed them by. For now.

It was also confirmation that Manchester United really do find it hard travelling to the Potteries regardless of the day, time, or weather. United haven’t won at the Britannia Stadium since Sir Alex Ferguson’s last visit, and while they weren’t as profligate as they were in the reverse fixture in October, they had numerous chances to take all three points.

It was especially a sorry day for Juan Mata, who not only scored an own goal but missed an open net, too. To blame the defeat solely on the loveable Spaniard would be extremely harsh, though, as while United huffed and puffed for most of the encounter they lacked any real guile in the final third, and failed to build any momentum as the clock ran down.

Without Michael Carrick dictating play in midfield and composing everyone around him, United had seemingly run out of ideas by the middle of the second half. Even when Jesse Lingard struck the bar from just outside the area it was more of a hit and hope effort rather than the culmination of endless pressure.

Thanks to the luxury of hindsight, we can now see that Mourinho’s line-up was a little off. Away at Stoke was always going to be the sort of game that twilight Wayne Rooney, with his physique and experience, would be perfect for, while the inclusion of Juan Mata and Marouane Fellaini slowed down the play and made sure it unfolded in the centre of the park, which is exactly what Stoke City wanted, and Ander Herrera, who was in Carrick’s deeper role, was unable to get into the thick of the action and springboard counter-attacks.

Further forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic was surprisingly indecisive and subdued, choosing to pass instead of shoot on at least two occasions, which suggested for the first time this season that maybe Marcus Rashford should have been rotated in to start ahead of him. When Rashford eventually came on for Fellaini in the 56^th minute he immediately became United’s most incisive and dangerous player, but even by this point his teammates were beginning to show their nerves.

Thankfully Wayne Rooney wound back the clock to find a goal deep, deep into stoppage time. It was a goal that epitomised Wayne Rooney’s career, too. Undoubtedly cheeky, it curled home and nestled into the top corner of the net with a beautiful poise, while it was also punctuated with a power akin to a boxer’s right hook, yet, in the end, though, it was still a little underwhelming as the match only ended in a draw.

It doesn’t matter how late and how spectacular the equaliser was, considering the opening that had been presented just before kick-off, a draw simply wasn’t a good enough result. But despite the disappointment, what it did do was stretch United’s unbeaten run to 17 games, while there’s still plenty of time, and chances, to pull the clubs ahead of United in so that by the end of the season it’s seen as a point gained rather than two that were desperately dropped.