Tackles flew in, heads were stamped on, and elbows were thrown in the latest installment of Premier League football at Old Trafford. It was a whirlwind game with plenty of incident that saw Bournemouth claim an unlikely point, having played half the game with just ten men.

Mings’ stamp and Ibrahimovic’s elbow both went unseen by officials, who instead (eventually) sent off Andrew Surman for the deadly combination of a strong fair tackle and a petulant push.

The game swung on two penalties, Bournemouth converted theirs through former United academy product Josh King, whereas Arthur Boruc saved superbly from Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s low-drive. This was a match that United could, and really should have won.

Let’s be honest though, this was a strange game. The incidents in the first half seemed to muddy the United players’ minds, and galvanised the men from the south-coast – who felt hard done-by the decisions. Thierry Henry proclaimed in the Sky Sports studio after the match that, “the game was weird”, and he was right.

The crowd were anxious and this translated to the players, especially Pogba, the most expensive player in football history, who looked like he barely remembered how to kick the ball in the last ten minutes, despite being in scintillating form for the past couple of months. In recent times though, a performance such as this seems to be the exception, rather than the rule, as United have begun to find their feet under Jose Mourinho.

It is hard to be flawless every game, but United must find a way to be more clinical in front of goal and win more games like this one if they are serious about claiming top honours next term. However, compared with the first 2-3 months of the season United have already improved massively in this regard, having only lost twice in the last 27 games.

Selection issues also had an affect on this performance. Make no mistake about it, United’s impressive form has been in large part down to the incisive creativity of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and the tenacious, yet controlled performances of Ander Herrera. With Herrera rested by Mourinho and Mkhitaryan injured, United didn’t look to have the same balance to their play. The good news for fans is that it is likely the Spaniard will be rotated back in immediately, and the Armenian is closing in on a return in the next week or two.

United can still claim a cup-treble and despite the result against Bournemouth, are still in with a massive shout of claiming a top four place come what May. Jose Mourinho is really starting to imprint his philosophy on this United team, which is in it’s best moment since Sir Alex Ferguson left. They are a footballing colossus on the march, and one result won’t change that.