Manchester United vs Stoke match report: LVG's team finally impress with Lingard, Martial and Rooney on target

Manchester United 3 Stoke City 0

(Getty Images)

It has taken four months and 11 goalless first-halves at Old Trafford for Manchester United to remember how to kill a game inside 45 minutes, but finally the old swagger returned to blow Stoke away.

Wayne Rooney maintained a scoring streak which now stands at seven goals in seven games, Anthony Martial embellished an outstanding display with a breathtaking goal and Juan Mata pulled strings that many inside the stadium had forgotten had existed as Louis van Gaal’s team secured the victory crucial to keep pace with the top four.

When United were humbled 2-0 at Stoke on Boxing Day, Van Gaal’s position appeared untenable, with supporters calling for his head as he walked down the touchline at the Britannia Stadium.

But while the recent revival has been a slow-burner, this victory suggested United can still close the gap on Champions League qualification and perhaps even threaten a late surge towards the top spot.

Anthony Martial celebrates after doubling the lead (Getty Images)

That remains unlikely, but momentum is everything in football and, as they prepare to travel to Chelsea on Sunday, they can at last claim to be on an upward trajectory again.

While Friday’s FA Cup fourth-round victory at Derby County felt like the turning of a corner for Van Gaal and his players, there was also the harsh reality that United would drive themselves straight back into a cul-de-sac if they failed to build on that morale-boosting performance in front of their own supporters at Old Trafford.

The Derby game showcased what United are capable of when their flair players are given the licence to play to their strengths and it was perhaps no coincidence that Mata produced one of his best performances of the season against the Championship team, having been deployed in his favoured No 10 role behind Rooney.

Van Gaal retained the Spaniard in the same position against Stoke, with Martial once again instructed to tear down the left flank, and the buzz about United’s play was there from the first whistle as the crowd sat in hope, rather than expectation, of a first-half goal for the first time since September.

Twice inside the first six minutes, United went close to opening the scoring, with Mata’s shot from Martial’s lay-off being deflected behind before Rooney forced goalkeeper Jack Butland into action with a spin and shot from 20 yards.

Old Trafford had forgotten what this kind of start looked like following the torturous sequence of first-half no-shows stretching back to that Champions League encounter against Wolfsburg.

And, just as Stoke began to gain a foothold and threaten to inject anxiety into the crowd, United broke the deadlock when Lingard scored on 14 minutes.

Mata began the move, feeding teenage full-back Cameron Borthwick-Jackson on the left before the 19-year-old whipped a dangerous cross in, and Lingard beat Butland with a diving header from close range after losing the static Ibrahim Afellay.

Old Trafford erupted in relief as much as joy, but having broken the drought, United almost scored again within 60 seconds, when Martial weaved into the penalty area before shooting into the side-netting.

United’s confidence was growing, however, and their second goal came on 23 minutes when Martial produced a stunning finish to cap a wonderful breakaway by Van Gaal’s players.

Rooney had started the move just outside his own penalty area before Matteo Darmian and Mata carried the ball forward until the United captain received it back 30 yards from the Stoke goal.

Spotting Martial in the left channel, Rooney floated a pass to the Frenchman, who took a touch before guiding a right-foot curler beyond the helpless Butland.

Champagne football at last, but it has taken long enough to arrive.

United’s assistant manager, Ryan Giggs, missed the game on compassionate grounds due to a family illness, but the football being played by Van Gaal’s team was of the style that Giggs would expect the club to play.

It was bold and adventurous, with the pace of Martial and Lingard pushing Stoke deep into their own defensive territory.

Mata should have scored a third goal shortly before half-time, when he headed Darmian’s cross over, and Rooney saw an effort ruled out by referee Roger East early in the second-half when the official took an age to blow his whistle after the United forward had made the chance by barging Glen Johnson off the ball.

Wayne Rooney has now scored seven goals in seven matches (Getty Images)

Stoke, without their £18.3m deadline-day signing Giannelli Imbula, were struggling to keep their heads above water and Rooney deservedly extended United’s lead when he finished off another slick move on 53 minutes.

Mata’s ball to Martial zipped across the turf to the winger before he picked out Rooney at the far post with a pass across the face of goal. Two yards out, Rooney couldn’t miss and he scored to make it seven goals in seven games.

Rooney’s goal secured the points and enabled the home supporters to enjoy a second-half without biting tension for once.

The question now is whether United can build on this and rein in the top four.