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Jose Mourinho praises 'confident, fast and aggressive' second-half display by Manchester United against Stoke... and preferred it to the first 45 despite his side scoring twice before the break

Manchester United may have eased to a 3-0 victory over Stoke at Old Trafford on Monday night, but only their second-half performance left Jose Mourinho truly satisfied.

United maintained their 100 per cent start to 2018 as they responded to Manchester City's first Premier League loss of the season to cut the leaders' advantage to 12 points.

The Potters, led by interim boss Eddie Niedzwiecki with Paul Lambert watching on from the stands ahead of taking over on Tuesday, only really threatened after Antonio Valencia had opened the scoring in the ninth minute, and Anthony Martial's 10th goal of the season ensured the hosts were 2-0 up by half-time.