Manchester United lost ground on the Premier League’s leading teams after being held to a goalless draw by bottom club Hull City on Wednesday.
Hull had goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic to thank for their point as they continued their revival under new manager Marco Silva and climbed off the bottom, to be replaced by Sunderland.
Jakupovic saved well from Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the first half and even more impressively, at close range, from substitute Juan Mata in the second.
Daley Blind, Marcus Rojo, Marcus Rashford and Ibrahimovic all missed the target as United dominated and they very nearly paid heavily four minutes from time when Lazar Markovic hit the post on his Premier League debut for Hull
In the Everton versus Stoke City premiership game, Peter Crouch became the 26th player to score a century of goals in the Premier League on Wednesday as his Stoke City side drew 1-1 with Everton.
The former England striker put the home team ahead after seven minutes, side-footing Marko Arnautovic’s cross beyond Joel Robles, two days after his 36th birthday, making him the oldest player to reach the landmark.
He also had several chances to score his 101st, heading straight at Robles and volleying wide before the Everton goalkeeper brilliantly denied Arnautovic.
But Everton drew level on 38 minutes when Ryan Shawcross deflected Seamus Coleman’s shot into his own goal. The assistant referee flagged for offside but referee Craig Pawson ruled that the ball had struck the Stoke defender and not Romelu Lukaku on the way.