Manchester United 1 Stoke 1: Five things we learnt as Jose Mourinhos side lose my ground in the Premier League title race

MANCHESTER UNITED lost more ground in the race for the Premier League title as they were held to a disappointing draw by bottom club Stoke.

United squandered a series of chances and were denied by an inspirational display from Stoke keeper Lee Grant as Mark Hughes' men climbed off the foot of the table.

It was another frustrating day for the United fans as a mistake by David de Gea gifted Joe Allen the equaliser after Anthony Martial had opened the scoring.

SunSport brings you five things we learnt from the 1-1 draw...

1: Wayne Rooney is no longer the King at Old Trafford

The England captain has now been benched for three successive games and is facing a fight to save his United career.

Zlatan Ibrahimovich looks far more threatening as the central striker and the way Jose Mourinho sets up his side has cost Rooney dear.

Juan Mata is a more creative player in the hole behind Ibrahimovic, and Rooney doesn't have the pace or legs to operate in the wide positions.

He even got lucky in the build-up to Anthony Martial's goal, as his dreadful first touch meant Erik Pieters was able to challenge him, only for the ball to fall to the French striker.

2: Ref Bobby Madley bottled the tough decision

Madley was taking charge of his first ever game at Old Trafford, and he gave the home side a huge benefit of the doubt when he failed to send off Ander Herrera.

The Spaniard may have been making a genuine attempt to get the ball, but he still left his studs in high on Joe Allen,

The Stoke players knew what they had seen, but Herrera escaped with a yellow as Madley veered away from upsetting the home supporters.

3: Stoke need to find the scoring boots quickly

Stoke need to start finding a cutting edge quickly otherwise they risk being dragged into a winter-long battle to avoid relegation.

Five goals from their first seven matches tells the real story of where Mark Hughes' side is falling short and big-name players like Wilfried Bony and Marko Arnautovic need to deliver for their side.

Bony looked far from happy as he was hauled off to be replaced by Peter Crouch, but this was another game that passed him by.

4: United can't pin all their hopes on Marcus Rashford

The potential of Rashford is there for all to see, but the 18-year-old is still not the complete article when it comes to starting matches.

The youngster is an obvious goal threat and he has pace to burn, but there are times he drifts out of matches for 10-15 minutes.