Anthony Martial had given United the lead midway through the second half but with eight minutes left, De Gea spilled a weak effort from Glen Johnson and Joe Allen was able to convert the rebound.

Stoke City defender Bruno Martins Indi hugs a teammate during his side's 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford on October 2, 2016 © SilverHub

United should have taken the lead as early as the second minute when Zlatan Ibrahimovic found himself in time and space inside the penalty area but he was denied by an outstanding save from Lee Grant, who correctly dived to his right as the forward attempted to wrong-foot the goalkeeper.

After that initial chance, Stoke created a clear-cut opportunity of their own but Geoff Cameron could only fire straight at De Gea after being found by Allen on the edge of the box.

Moments later, United should have taken the lead when Jesse Lingard's flick found Paul Pogba all on his own inside the box but the world-record summer signing dragged his shot wide of the post.

The Stoke defence began to drop deeper and that only encouraged United to press forward, with Juan Mata seeing Grant claw away his attempted lob before Pogba sent a free header wide of the post.

The game was yet to reach the half-hour mark before Grant pulled off another excellent intervention, this time denying Lingard at point-blank range with the midfielder's effort seemingly destined for the bottom corner.

Ryan Shawcross was also required to make a last-ditch block to prevent Ibrahimovic from netting from inside the six-yard box, but the Potters were able to reach the break on level terms.

The visitors were the better team during the opening stages of the second half, and Allen should have done better inside the area when he turned Chris Smalling before shooting too close to De Gea.

It was a let-off for United and after being restricted to three long-range strikes from Pogba, Mata and Ander Herrera, Jose Mourinho decided to introduce both Wayne Rooney and Martial and it took just three minutes for the changes to pay off.

Rooney was dispossessed by Cameron inside the area but the ball fell straight to Martial, who curled his shot into the top corner from 16 yards out.

Manchester United forward Anthony Martial does a better celebration after scoring during his side's Premier League clash with Stoke City at Old Trafford on October 2, 2016 © SilverHub

United had chances to net a second but with eight minutes left, they gifted Stoke a way back into the match through an error from De Gea.

The goalkeeper failed to hold a deflected effort from Johnson and after Jonathan Walters had struck the crossbar with the rebound, Allen was able to fire a half-volley into the roof of the net from two yards.

United pushed forward in numbers with Ibrahimovic forcing another save out of Grant and Pogba hitting the crossbar with a header from six yards out.

However, despite four minutes of added-on time, they were unable to create another opening as Stoke held firm to secure just their third point of the season.