November 17, 2008 - MondayIt was an afternoon of milestones at Old Trafford on Saturday. Sir Alex Ferguson celebrated 50 years in football as a player and manager with Manchester United’s biggest win of the season, Cristiano Ronaldo chalked up a century of goals for the club and Danny Welbeck claimed what he hopes will be the first of many with a wonderful strike on his Barclays Premier League debut.
And watching it all, with a mixture of awe and anxiety, were Stoke City, who, like all polite guests, seemed positively determined not to ruin a good party. Rory Delap’s trademark long throw-ins had bred panic in Arsenal’s defence a fortnight earlier, but there was about as much chance of Stoke pulling off a repeat of their 2-1 victory over the North London club as there was of Ronaldo stepping aside to let one of his teammates take a free kick around the penalty area.
The Portugal forward produced his best performance of the season and still had acres in reserve. Two free kicks took his tally to 101 goals in 208 starts for the club.
For a moment in the first half, it seemed that the persistent taunts from Stoke’s small but vociferous army of fans had got to Ronaldo, the manner in which he went to ground in the 41st minute under a nonexistent challenge from Salif Diao suggesting that he no longer had the stomach for this particular fight.
Four minutes later, though, Ronaldo burst forward in that characteristic fashion of his and teed up Michael Carrick to score with an emphatic finish. “Ronaldo can’t be bullied and United as a team can’t be bullied,” Danny Higginbotham, the Stoke left back, formerly of United, said.
It was not all Ronaldo, though. Carrick was outstanding, his passing a joy to watch. Jonny Evans, deputising for the injured Rio Ferdinand, had Ricardo Fuller in his back pocket, Patrice Evra was lethal in combination with Ronaldo down the left, Dimitar Berbatov scored his sixth goal of the season – and then there was Welbeck.
The 17-year-old striker won the penalty from which Carlos Tévez scored in United’s Carling Cup fourth-round tie against Queens Park Rangers four days earlier and he was even more impressive against Stoke.
Picking the ball up just beyond the centre circle in the Stoke half, Welbeck raced forward and thumped a 30-yard drive into the top corner to make it 5-0. “He has bags of ability and a great temperament, so he’s suited to us,” Carrick said.
Tony Pulis, the Stoke manager, was philosophical. “The good thing is we don’t have to play United next week,” he said, wryly.
And watching it all, with a mixture of awe and anxiety, were Stoke City, who, like all polite guests, seemed positively determined not to ruin a good party. Rory Delap’s trademark long throw-ins had bred panic in Arsenal’s defence a fortnight earlier, but there was about as much chance of Stoke pulling off a repeat of their 2-1 victory over the North London club as there was of Ronaldo stepping aside to let one of his teammates take a free kick around the penalty area.
The Portugal forward produced his best performance of the season and still had acres in reserve. Two free kicks took his tally to 101 goals in 208 starts for the club.
For a moment in the first half, it seemed that the persistent taunts from Stoke’s small but vociferous army of fans had got to Ronaldo, the manner in which he went to ground in the 41st minute under a nonexistent challenge from Salif Diao suggesting that he no longer had the stomach for this particular fight.
Four minutes later, though, Ronaldo burst forward in that characteristic fashion of his and teed up Michael Carrick to score with an emphatic finish. “Ronaldo can’t be bullied and United as a team can’t be bullied,” Danny Higginbotham, the Stoke left back, formerly of United, said.
It was not all Ronaldo, though. Carrick was outstanding, his passing a joy to watch. Jonny Evans, deputising for the injured Rio Ferdinand, had Ricardo Fuller in his back pocket, Patrice Evra was lethal in combination with Ronaldo down the left, Dimitar Berbatov scored his sixth goal of the season – and then there was Welbeck.
The 17-year-old striker won the penalty from which Carlos Tévez scored in United’s Carling Cup fourth-round tie against Queens Park Rangers four days earlier and he was even more impressive against Stoke.
Picking the ball up just beyond the centre circle in the Stoke half, Welbeck raced forward and thumped a 30-yard drive into the top corner to make it 5-0. “He has bags of ability and a great temperament, so he’s suited to us,” Carrick said.
Tony Pulis, the Stoke manager, was philosophical. “The good thing is we don’t have to play United next week,” he said, wryly.
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