Premier League: Man. United 1 Stoke City 1

Manchester United were denied a fourth straight win in all competitions on a frustrating afternoon at Old Trafford as Stoke City struck late on to secure a point.

Anthony Martial, on as a second-half substitute, curled home beautifully from 12 yards for his first goal of the season to give the Reds the lead in the 69th minute. But, with eight minutes remaining, Joe Allen scored for the second league game in a row after Jon Walters hit the crossbar as Mark Hughes’ side, who are second from bottom in the table, earned a first league point at the Theatre of Dreams since their 2008 promotion.

Paul Pogba rattled the crossbar late on but United missed the chance to move up to third in the Premier League and will rue a host of first-half opportunities which they failed to convert. They also came up against an inspired Lee Grant in the Stoke goal.

As a mark of respect, both sides wore black armbands to mark the passing on Saturday of former United and Stoke striker David Herd at the age of 82. 

Jose Mourinho named the same team who dismantled champions Leicester 4-1 last weekend, with four changes from Thursday’s Europa League win over Zorya Luhansk.

United began brightly and could have taken the lead inside the first minute when Pogba’s reverse pass released Zlatan Ibrahimovic in behind the Stoke defence but the Swedish striker’s low effort was denied by Grant, who reacted well to keep out his second effort from a tight angle.

Stoke settled into the game and went close themselves on two occasions through Geoff Cameron, who tested David De Gea from 20 yards before firing Allen’s cutback straight into the keeper’s hands.
Pogba missed two excellent chances to give United the lead that the Reds' superiority deserved midway through the first period, as the Frenchman failed to add to his first goal against the champions last Saturday.

Ibrahimovic then combined well with Ander Herrera before laying the ball off to Pogba, who slid his shot wide of the post before heading wide from Daley Blind’s corner when left unmarked eight yards out.

It was then Jesse Lingard’s turn to get a glimpse of goal from a dangerous near-post cross by Ibrahimovic, with Grant brilliantly clawing the forward’s instinctive shot behind for a corner.

Juan Mata, who was left out of the Spain squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers this week, almost provided the decisive breakthrough with a delightful lobbed effort which Grant palmed over the crossbar.
 
Stoke came into the match as the half wore on but the Reds – and Pogba in particular – were left to reflect on several missed opportunities as then whistle blew.

HALF-TIME STATS
Possession: United 68% Stoke 32%
Shots at goal: United 11 Stoke 4
Shots on target: United 4 Stoke 3
Corners: United 4 Stoke 1

The visitors were quick out of the blocks and De Gea had to be alert to tip over Bruno Martins Indi’s looping header from Xherdan Shaqiri’s free-kick within a minute of the restart, although the offside flag had been raised.

Former Liverpool midfielder Allen then managed to cut inside Chris Smalling from Marko Arnautovic’s flick inside the box but could only sidefoot tamely at De Gea.

The electrifying pace of Rashford and Lingard in wide areas caused problems for the Stoke defence all afternoon, with Grant required to race off his line to prevent Lingard from having a clear run at goal.  

The former Sheffield Wednesday keeper was also called into action to keep out long-distance efforts from Mata and Pogba, who arguably enjoyed his most dominant display in a United shirt to date. Herrera then went close with a fierce low drive from 25 yards from Lingard’s lay-off, which travelled inches wide of the post.

Mourinho looked to inject extra firepower midway through the second half as captain Wayne Rooney and Martial replaced Lingard and Mata. And, after Ibrahimovic’s low shot drifted inches past the post, Martial made an instant impact with a sumptuous effort reminiscent of his goal of the season contender against the Potters on their last visit back in February.

Fellow sub Rooney was tackled in the box by Cameron and the ball inadvertently fell to Martial, who curled home a stunning shot into the far corner beyond the helpless Grant.

United suddenly came to life and Blind, who helped set up three goals against Leicester last week, almost found the net himself when meeting Rashford’s cutback from six yards but Martins Indi threw himself in the way.  

Ibrahimovic then became the latest player to be denied by Grant, who beat away the no.9’s half-volley after Martial’s delivery evaded the stretching Shawcross.

Just when United looked set for three points, Stoke levelled matters when Glen Johnson’s deflected shot was kept out by De Gea but substitute Jon Walters kept it alive and his shot looped up off Eric Bailly onto the crossbar before Allen fired in from close range.
 
Ibrahimovic almost proved the hero again after Thursday’s Europa League winner, but his low shot was tipped wide by Grant before Pogba headed Rashford’s cross against the woodwork with two minutes to go as the Reds were left to settle for a disappointing draw.

FULL-TIME STATS
Possession: United 67% Stoke 33%
Shots at goal: United 24 Stoke 7
Shots on target: United 9 Stoke 6
Corners: United 13 Stoke 2
United: De Gea; Valencia, Bailly, Smalling, Blind; Pogba, Herrera (Memphis 84); Lingard (Martial 67), Mata (Rooney 67), Rashford; Ibrahimovic. 
Subs not used: Romero, Darmian, Carrick, Fellaini.
Booked: Valencia, Herrera, Ibrahimovic
Stoke City: Grant; Johnson, Shawcross, Martins Indi, Pieters; Cameron, Whelan, Allen; Shaqiri (Bardsley 88), Bony (Crouch 77), Arnautovic (Walters 77).
Subs not used: Given, Adam, Diouf, Bojan.