Manchester United title contenders? You’re having a laugh, as they used to chant on the terraces. A team that fails to pick up both Peter Crouch and Ryan Shawcross at Stoke’s first corner, going behind to a classic Potters set-piece goal in under two minutes? A team with a backline so shaky that they could easily have gone two down midway through the first half, had Mame Diouf showed any sort of finishing composure after he had beaten Jonny Evans all ends up?

Visitors who spent much of the second half under siege in their own penalty area, riding their luck on at least one occasion as Stoke pressed for a winner and were denied a clear penalty?

United may be theoretically in touch with Chelsea and Manchester City at the top of the table but their momentum has slowed over the festive period, with draws against Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur, and while they are playing with more confidence than they showed at the start of the season they are not yet performing consistently enough to be regarded even as a sure thing for a top-four finish. This third away draw in a row was not one of those where United make all the running and the ball miraculously stays out of the opposition net. This was a point that almost flattered United, who could easily have left the Britannia Stadium with nothing. When Shawcross was asked afterwards if a draw was the right result he appeared nonplussed. Most people thought Stoke deserved a win, Louis van Gaal included. “At Aston Villa we were the better team,” the United manager said. “Today we were not.”

The best thing that could be said of United’s display was that they achieved a better result than they gained last season, when they were beaten by a spectacular winner from Charlie Adam, and showed application and organisation in recovering from their early setback. It was significant that they equalised from a set piece of their own, because very few chances were created from open play. Geoff Cameron and Erik Pieters kept a tight watch on Ashley Young and Luke Shaw, so space on the flanks never really opened up for United’s wing-backs, and neither were Wayne Rooney nor Juan Mata able to find many ways through Stoke’s well-drilled backline by playing through the middle.

Neither Young nor Shaw finished the game and you could see why Van Gaal gambled on Adnan Januzaj in search of more attacking adventure after an hour, even if the substitute’s first task after replacing Shaw on the left was to try to stop a rampaging Jon Walters from getting a cross in, never the easiest of tasks for the burliest of defenders. The slightly-built Belgian is certainly not that, Walters crossed with little difficulty and Phil Jones did well in the end to head away the danger without finding his own net.

That was the beginning of Stoke’s most intense period of pressure, during which Chris Smalling was distinctly fortunate to get away with a clear handball in the area, Crouch struck a post and Diouf fired a volley narrowly over the bar. The Boothen End was incensed over Michael Oliver’s refusal to award a penalty against Smalling, and the home fans had a point.

The ball only travelled a short distance from Crouch’s head to the defender, giving Smalling little chance of getting his arm out of the way, but if you contest a cross in the penalty area with arms raised you are asking for trouble and a goalbound effort was indisputably blocked by illegal means.

It said a lot about United’s character that they not only survived the barrage but kept looking for a winner right up until the end. Being United, it was easy to suspect that they might get one too, but Rooney was not having one of his better games, Mata’s passing game was blown off course by the blustery conditions and when Robin van Persie turned up on the end of a good move in the closing minutes he could not keep his effort on target.

A late winner for United would have been a travesty in any case. Van Gaal has improved the team, though not to the extent that they can easily cope with a wet and windy New Year’s Day in Stoke. “We knew it would be tough, we played them at home already,” Van Gaal said. “They are a well-organised team who play long balls very well.” He was not being dismissive there, just admitting the truth. United’s 10-match unbeaten run is still intact, but a long-ball team nearly rumbled them.