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Why Pogba was Man of the Match against Stoke City

Manchester United's record signing Paul Pogba claimed the club's Man of the Match award, as voted for by fans on Twitter, following the 3-0 win over Stoke City.

The French midfielder claimed 86 per cent of the votes, beating his team-mates Anthony Martial (nine per cent) and Romelu Lukaku (five per cent) to the accolade.

Pogba provided the assists for both of United's opening goals, taking his tally for the season to nine, a figure only matched in the Premier League by Kevin De Bruyne and Leroy Sane of Manchester City.

However, it was the no.6's all-round contribution which made him stand out on a rainy night at Old Trafford, using his power and pace to dominate the middle of the park throughout the 90 minutes.

Pogba made 77 passes in the victory, with a completion rate of 90 per cent, as well as making 96 touches, the most by any United player on the night, illustrating his influence.

He also won seven of his 15 ground duels and gained possession on six occasions, showing the defensive side of his game was also strong.
After the match, Pogba admitted he enjoyed the freedom Jose Mourinho allowed him to play with against Stoke, as well as insisting that the Reds have not given up on the title race.

“I played further forward so I had more freedom, to pass forward and find my team-mates,”
he told Sky Sports. “[I suit that role because] I can use more of my attributes to go forward to use my power, my shooting, or try to make an assist, so yes, playing up the field suits me more.”

“It's really good for me to make assists for my team-mates to score, but the most important thing is for the team to win,” he added. “If I can do more by scoring more goals - that would be great - but the most important thing is getting results, and trying to catch [Manchester City].

”Like everybody else, we want to win the league. We know we are far away, but we have to try.“

Goals: United 3 Stoke City 0video

Pogba: We scored beautiful goalsvideo