Stoke City 0 Manchester Utd 1: IT WAS not the stuff of world champions, nor a result that would resonate in Tokyo, Quito or even in Bulawayo, but it was enough.
Alex Ferguson has long argued that whether Manchester United are able to retain their Premier League title would be decided by the team's reaction when returning from the Club World Cup and this was the kind of result he had in mind.
On paper, overcoming a Stoke City side that played the final 21 minutes with 10 men is not a big victory but in a month when points have been spilling from the big four it was gratefully received.
It says something that Manchester United have managed three goals in their last five Premier League games but those goals have brought them nine points and this morning they are where they always seem to be as January approaches, moving steadily and ominously through the leading pack.
Those who jammed the Britannia Stadium in the hope that United's last two visits to Stoke - both 2-1 defeats - might be replicated would go home muttering about how this was a result larded with luck. It was not just that Ferguson admitted he had been preparing to remove Carlos Tevez when the Argentinian volleyed home a flick-on from Dimitar Berbatov. It was that it seemed such an ordinary goal to concede.
For all that Ferguson complained there "was no fatigue" after their flight from Japan, United looked weary, disjointed and frustrated. Had Wayne Rooney's elbow connected with Abdoulaye Faye as they grappled by the corner flag, United would have gone down to 10 men before Stoke.
None appeared more out of sorts than Cristiano Ronaldo. Given that Stoke are the club where Stanley Matthews was hailed as "the wizard of the dribble", it might have been appropriate had he unveiled the touch and brilliance that makes him one of the most marketable footballers in the world. As it was, his lime-green boots produced only one moment of significance and that was to kick out at the Stoke full-back Andy Wilkinson as the game approached its climax.
It was a tackle Wilkinson seemed errant enough to want repaid. Having already been booked, common sense demanded that launching into Ronaldo from behind could have only one outcome and Wilkinson was walking towards the home bench before Chris Foy produced a red card.
Usually, a dismissed footballer's team-mate will defend him, at least in public. However, Thomas Sorensen - who was relatively untroubled apart from one brilliant, low save from Paul Scholes in which he utilised every inch of his body - did not attempt to do so.
"The sending off changes a game," he said. "He already had a booking and there had been a few incidents between those players. He shouldn't have gone for that tackle. We had a game-plan and it worked well. We were in their faces from the off and Manchester United were finding it difficult."
Stoke performed with the kind of raw, rough commitment that someone who had last attended a match in 1958 would have recognised, and with a few inventive moves at free-kicks they would have found utterly baffling. John O'Shea looked bewildered when dealing with Rory Delap's long throws. Edwin van der Sar's concentration was not helped by the odd beer bottle that appeared to be flung in his direction from the Stoke fans, while Jonny Evans, in for Rio Ferdinand, endured an untypically poor afternoon.
The young Belfast man will be required to face Middlesbrough on Monday as Ferguson acknowledged Ferdinand's back injury is serious and the club is determined to get to the bottom of what has been a persistent problem. Given their fixtures before their encounter with Chelsea on January 11th are relatively straightforward, that is the obvious match to target for the defender's return.
Stoke might have expected better. This was their first home defeat since going down to Chelsea on September 27th and 20 points on St Stephen's Day might appear a fair return for a promoted side. But a couple of years ago it seemed enough to another freshly promoted club that played in red-and-white stripes and Sheffield United were still relegated on the final day of the campaign.
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