Goals by Marouane Fellaini and Juan Mata give Manchester United a 2-1 win against Stoke City in Tuesday evening's Premier League clash at Old Trafford.

Goals by Marouane Fellaini and Juan Mata have seen Manchester United sneak a 2-1 win against Stoke City in this evening's Premier League clash at Old Trafford.

Manchester United's Belgian midfielder Marouane Fellaini celebrates after scoring the opening goal of the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Stoke City at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on December 2, 2014 © Getty Images

The opening exchanges of the game saw the hosts dominating possession but the Potters remaining strong and solid at the back.

Just after the quarter-hour mark, however, Asmir Begovic miskicked the ball straight to Robin van Persie, who went on to thread a pass through to Ander Herrera, but the midfielder blasted over.

The Red Devils did manage to break the deadlock just a few minutes later, however, when Herrera made up for his earlier mistake by whipping a cross from the left and allowing Fellaini to jump high and head home.

On the half-hour mark, United had a penalty shout waved away when James Wilson collected the ball in the box before going down under the challenge of Geoff Cameron.

Steven Nzonzi of Stoke City celebrates scoring his team's first goal with his team-mates during the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester United and Stoke City at Old Trafford on December 2, 2014 © Getty Images

Stoke then found themselves back in the game with just six minutes to go until half time when Steven N'Zonzi finished off some good marauding work by Bojan Krkic, striking home into the far corner from the edge of the box.

Louis van Gaal's charges came out strongly in the second period, but the Potters were steadfast at the back as Herrera and Wilson were thwarted by last-ditch challenges.

However, the visitors came undone just before the hour, with Mata's free kick from wide on the right saw the ball drift into the net to put United back in the lead.

Manchester United's Spanish midfielder Juan Mata is congratulated by Manchester United's English midfielder Ashley Young and Manchester United's English defender Chris Smalling after scoring their second goal during the English Premier League football mat © Getty Images

From then on, the hosts dominated proceedings and looked like scoring on several opportunities, although Stoke came close in the 69th minute when Krkic fired wide.

Wilson and Fellaini threatened moments later at the other end with powerful efforts that nevertheless failed to trouble Begovic, while Stoke launched a late rally that saw Mame Biram Diouf miss an open goal in injury time.