After such a fine run of form in recent weeks, a lot of Manchester United fans will have been expecting their side to ease past Stoke City.
Instead, the Red Devils were reliant on a 94th-minute free-kick from Wayne Rooney to rescue a point.
That’s now two 1-1 draws in a row after the same result against Liverpool a week earlier, but it’s a more persistent problem than that.
Jose Mourinho’s side have drawn 8 of their 22 league games this season, and it’s one of the main reasons they’re struggling in sixth four points outside the top four.
It’s no secret that they need to find that cutting edge, but Mourinho thinks he has pinpointed the exact problem – and if he can resolve it, he thinks United can be a top team again.
“A top team has to be much more clinical,” he told a press conference.
“You have to get the first chance of the match and ‘bang’ 1-0, when you are winning by a goal then the next chance ‘boom’, kill the opponent and we are not doing that enough.”
It’s still unlikely that Mourinho will dip into the transfer window this month, but he may well be considering what changes he can make in the summer to get his side to finish their chances.
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