Narrow Win For United - Stoke City (0) v Manchester United (1)

Despite Berbatov being declared fit to play, the gaffer opted not to start the Bulgarian, instead opting for a Rooney-Tevez partnership. There were early signs of scare for United, once when Jonny Evans (who was a last minute replacement for Rio when the England International pulled out after having a sore back during warm up) was somewhat dreaming and incidently gave Fuller a chance to release a shot towards Van der Sar's goal post but rocketed the ball sky high instead.

It was a frustrating first half for United with Stoke putting up a stiff defensive line.

Inside 15 minutes, Fuller then had another chance of giving Stoke City the lead, but big old VDS made a brilliant run out of his post to clear the ball. It was United's turn to press on and Rooney almost made it 1-0 to the visitors, connecting a cross by G. Neville. Sorensen, Stoke's goalie had a different idea and manages a save without a hassle.

United starts the second half with majority of the possesion. No descent chances however with no one really producing that final pass inside the box. 57 minutes on, Scholes drives a low shot forcing Sorensen to stretch. Seconds after, Fuller had a similar chance and a similar shot. The big Dutch goalie was pushed for a reflex save.

Rooney was a lucky guy when the video replay suggests that he threw an elbow at Stoke's skipper. Amazingly, the assistant referee, who was literally 2 feet away from the incident, saw nothing.

A second yellow card to Wilkinson on the 72nd minute left Stoke City with ten man. After being busy marking Ronaldo on the left flank, giving the Ballon D'or winner a handful of tackles, Ronaldo had enough and sucked the Right Back in for a tackle against him. Wilkinson fell for the bait and the referee had no choice but to show the red.

United push on, with the never say die attitude. Persistence paid off when Neville had a chance to produce a cross on the 83rd minute, it was really an aweful one, but Berbatov manages to control the ball and squares it right in the front of the goal. Then comes Tevez with a pretty much reflex shot, and GOAL!. The only one for the game and it was enough for United to seal the deal.

Final Score : Stoke City (0) v Manchester United (1)