A Manchester United side lacking the finishing touch managed to secure a 0-0 draw at West Ham United, secured second place in the Premier League with one game left in the season.

Thursday’s tie at the Olympic Stadium was low on quality as the Hammers largely soaked up whatever little the Red Devils, bereft of top scorer Romelu Lukaku, could throw at them.

With the Belgian injured, Jose Mourinho overlooked the underperforming duo of Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford as he opted for Alexis Sanchez and Jesse Lingard to lead the attack in an unfamiliar 3-5-2 formation.

United, with Paul Pogba, Scott Mctominay and Ander Herrera pulling the strings, dominated the possession battle and would pepper Adrian’s goal from the off.

Lingard went close twice with fierce, swerving shots from distance but the Hammers’ Spanish custodian just about did enough to keep the winger at bay.

Luke Shaw, in search of his first goal for United, came within inches of breaking the deadlock, but his fierce half-volley was tipped on to the post by a scrambling Adrian’s boot as the sides went into the dressing rooms deadlocked.

Another reason for Mourinho to be fuming, apart from his side’s inability to finiish, was that the visitors had been denied a penalty despite West Ham fullback Pablo Zabaleta clearly handling the ball inside the box.

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The second-half saw a marked drop in intensity from both teams, but United continued to dictate the tempo and would keep the pressure on the hosts.

Mark Arnautovic was the sole bright spot for David Moyes’ team, regularly beating his man with ease but found himself isolated too often and David de Gea wasn’t truly tested over the course of 90 minutes.

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As the match petered out to a draw, there was a flashpoint as Pobga and Mark Noble sparked a fracas, but referee John Moss decided against sending any player off and United got the desired point, even if the win eluded them in the end.

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With one game to go, the Red Devils are second with 78 points while Tottenham are four points behind having played the same number of games as the Manchester outfit.