The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Romelu Lukaku celebrates after scoring Manchester United’s third goal in a 3-0 Premier League win over Stoke at Old Trafford last night.
PREMIER LEAGUE: Red Devils continue fine start to 2018 – but Lambert has work to do
MANCHESTER UNITED 3 STOKE 0
Manchester United maintained their 100% start to 2018 last night with a comfortable 3-0 victory over a Stoke side watched by their incoming boss Paul Lambert.
Antonio Valencia, Anthony Martial and Romelu Lukaku got the goals as United responded to leaders Manchester City’s first Premier League loss with a third win of the calendar year to cut the gap to Pep Guardiola’s men to 12 points.
Jose Mourinho’s attention will now turn to transfers, with City understood to have stood aside in the pursuit of United target Alexis Sanchez, while former Celtic captain Lambert will focus on elevating Stoke out of the bottom three when he starts work today.
What may happen in the transfer window was inescapable at Old Trafford, particularly when the teamsheet came out and there was no Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the United squad.
The Armenian has been mooted as a potential makeweight with Arsenal in any Sanchez deal and in a pre-match interview with Sky Sports Mourinho admitted Mkhitaryan’s absence was down to “doubts about his future”.
United did not have to wait long for their opener as their first shot resulted in a goal.
Valencia, back after a month out injured, collected a Paul Pogba pass on the edge of the box and crept towards Josh Tymon.
The space was to Valencia’s left and he moved into it, showing no sign of his previous aversion to his weaker left foot by rifling beyond Jack Butland.
Martial added a second seven minutes before the break. Again it was Pogba who provided the assist with a smart pass across the box that Martial whipped into the net with a measured first-time strike.
A third always looked likely and United wrapped up the points 18 minutes from time.
The Potters appealed in vain for handball when Martial’s pass was controlled by Lukaku, with the Belgian holding off Kevin Wimmer and turning a low shot home for the 50th goal Stoke have conceded in the league.
Meanwhile, Manchester City appear to have ended their interest in signing Arsenal star Sanchez.
The Premier League leaders have decided to pull out of a potential deal during this month’s transfer window because of the costs involved.
It is understood that two other clubs, thought to be United and Chelsea, are prepared to pay more than City – in terms of transfer fee, wages and other costs – to sign the player.