Manchester United 4-2 Stoke City

Wayne Rooney scored an own goal before bagging a brace at the other end as Manchester United secured a 4-2 victory over Stoke City.

Conceding early goals has been a real problem for United so far this season and that proved the case again on this occasion as they made a mess of clearing a Stoke corner and the ball ended being put through his own net by the unfortunate Wayne Rooney.
The only consolation was that they still had 80 minutes to put things right, but truth be told the Potters should have put the game beyond doubt inside the first half hour as they saw David De Gea deny them on three separate occasions when they really should have given him no chance.
Tony Pulis' side paid the price on 28 minutes as Robin Van Persie delivered a stunning cross into the box that Rooney could simply not miss from six yards out.
The equaliser seemed to be the spark the hosts needed and the pressure was relentless until the break and the visitors creaked right on half time as they allowed Antonio Valencia to cross for Van Persie to finish.
It looked like game over less than a minute after the interval as Rooney's cross was headed home by a diving Danny Welbeck at the near post to make it 3-1. Jonny Evans and Welbeck both then missed chances to stretch the lead and Stoke looked to have given themselves a chance on the hour mark as Michael Kightly weaved his way through to beat De Gea from close range.
However, United went straight up the other end and when Stoke failed to clear Van Persie's corner the ball dropped for Wayne Rooney to poke home from four yards out.
The win keeps United within four points of Chelsea who they face next week in arguably the biggest game of the season so far. Meanwhile, Tony Pulis will be concerned with how easily the hosts penetrated his side's defences from wide positions.