United 3 Stoke 0

It all seems so simple.  Get the wide players in the three behind your main striker playing ten yards further up the pitch, a bit of movement further up the field and, hey presto - the United way.  Or at least something a lot closer to it than anything else we've seen at Old Trafford this season.

Cameron Borthwick-Jackson deserves praise too. I was impressed by the way Cam has played within himself since his, let's face it, premature elevation to the senior side.  He's played with great sense and caution, not doing anything out of the ordinary and ensuring he didn't let anyone down.  

Here, he let himself off the leash enough to provide the cross from the first goal.  And what a cross it was - a teaser whipped across the six yard area that, in previous games, probably wouldn't have found a colleague far enough up the pitch to connect with it.  This time, Lingard was on hand to head home and the Reds never looked back.

Rooney, so clearly back to his old self, was magnificent, his movement around the box a constant threat to the Stoke defence.  For the second goal, he took Mata's pass from a speedy United break and found Martial in the area.  The Frenchman - who had another fine game - curled his shot past Butland to double United's lead before half-time.  That embarrassing run of goalless first halves had been brought to an end in some style.

From there it was plain sailing.  Early in the second half, Mata picked up the  ball in space and, rather than go through the middle himself, picked out Martial on the left whose cross found Rooney at the far post.  3-0 to United and a rare opportunity this season simply to lay off and close out the game without any problems.