Five talking points from Manchester United's 2-0 win at Stoke in the Capital One Cup quarterfinals

Manchester United can do it on a cold, windy Wednesday night in Stoke

Under Tony Pulis, Stoke City’s game was universally known – it was physical and aggressive. When Barcelona won it all and were being touted as the best club in the world, one of the oft repeated quotes, was “can they do it on a cold, windy Wednesday night in Stoke?” Unfortunately that was never really put to the test, but at least on Wednesday night’s evidence, Manchester United certainly can. Even if the current Stoke side are far from similar to the one that played under Pulis.

With Mark Hughes trying to lay the foot down and play football, there has certainly been a difference, albeit an inconsistent one. Against United, the game was stopped for 10 minutes around the half-hour after the referee Mark Clattenburg complained that he couldn’t see a thing. It was raining as if there was no tomorrow, and the hailstones were the size of golf balls. Although the players reemerged in a little while, that analogy of it being a difficult night in Stoke was certainly true. Whatever the case, United came through in the end.