Updated at 14.35
ON A BUSY day of St Stephen’s Day Premier League fixtures, a blustery Britannia Stadium hosted the early kick-off between Stoke City and Manchester United.
With Louis van Gaal’s future at the club looking increasingly uncertain, the visitors were in grave need of a victory ahead of Monday’s home clash against Chelsea.
However, it was Stoke who impressed in the first half — scoring twice to take a 2-0 lead into the break.
A mistake by Memphis Depay allowed Glen Johnson to cross for Bojan Krkic, who slotted home through the legs of Phil Jones on 19 minutes.
And seven minutes later, the Potters deservedly doubled their lead.
Bojan’s effort from a free-kick came back out off the wall and Marko Arnautovic struck a beautiful first-time strike beyond David de Gea from 25 yards.
Despite introducing captain Wayne Rooney for the second half, the visitors were unable to find the back of the net and slumped to a third consecutive league defeat.
