Despite dominating from start to finish, Manchester United failed to grind out a victory against Stoke City at Old Trafford on Sunday.
It has not been a perfect start for Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford, and things went from bad to worse for the Portuguese manager who saw his side concede a cynical goal to hand Stoke a lifeline in the game.
French attacker Anthony Martial came off the bench to put the hosts in the lead, but Stoke fought their way back through a goal from Joe Allen.
United dominated possession, created more chances and were undeniably the better side on the day. They looked in control of proceedings for most of the game, but got complacent and squandered a crucial three points.
After the game, Mourinho was upset about how things unfolded at the Theatre of Dreams but was still pleased with the brand of football his team played on the day.
“It’s simple – the best Manchester United performance of the season. It could have been 3-0 or 4-0 at half-time and six or seven at the end of the game. I can’t believe the result is 1-1. It was very undeserved.
“I repeat – it was a much better performance than against Leicester because the result made more than the performance and today was exactly the opposite,” said the United boss as per the club’s official website.
Anthony Martial came on as a substitute in the 67th minute and scored within two minutes. Mourinho was impressed by the youngster’s performance. In the post-match press conference, the Portuguese said:
“He [Martial] needed that. It was a very good goal, good initiative. He had the confidence, so it was good for him.”
The Premier League will be taking an international break this week and will resume proceedings on the 13th of October. Manchester United have a daunting away trip to Anfield to take on a Liverpool side that is bursting with confidence.
