Ryan Giggs came off the bench to win Manchester United their clash at Stoke City yesterday.

United were struggling to turn their overwhelming dominance into goals at the Britannia Stadium until Giggs replaced Nani 10 minutes into the second half.

The improvement was instant. First Giggs provided record signing Dimitar Berbatov with a tap-in before curling over a free-kick that allowed John O'Shea to mark his 350th Red Devils appearance with a goal as he guided a header into the far corner.

"Ryan is important," said Ferguson. "He made the goals.

"I felt his intelligence would give them a bit of bother on that side of the pitch. Nani did pretty well but Ryan gives you something else.

"He has the intelligence to take up good positions. For the first goal he went on a lovely run behind their defence and the second was an excellent free-kick."