Man U records 4th consecutive home draw since 1980

Jose Mourinho was once more sent to the stands – and faces yet more FA disciplinary action – as Manchester United once again suffered a frustrating draw as they were held by West Ham United.

It is a fourth successive Premier League home draw for United since 1980 and the Old Trafford side should probably have won all four of those matches but have now discarded eight points instead and are already in grave danger of finishing outside the top four and failing to qualify for the Champions League. They are eight points behind fourth-placed Arsenal.

Mourinho was dismissed after 28 minutes for angrily kicking a water bottle down the touchline after Paul Pogba was cautioned for diving as he attempted to evade a Mark Noble tackle.

It was the second time in the last three Premier League games at Old Trafford that the United manager has been banished and he has only just served a touchline ban for a misconduct charge.

The action was taken by referee Jon Moss who also dismissed Mourinho – when he was Chelsea manager – at West Ham last season after he angrily challenged him at half-time. That resulted in a suspended one-match stadium ban and Mourinho can now expect further action.

West Ham’s goal came after Jesse Lingard fouled Dimitri Payet and he whipped the free-kick in from the right with Diafra Sakho throwing himself before Zlatan Ibrahimovic to power a diving header past David De Gea. It was Sakho’s first goal since May.

It took Man United  until 21 minutes to equalise. It came as Pogba deftly flighted the ball to superbly connect with Ibrahimovic’s sharp run away from James Collins, who was slow to react. The striker guided his close-range header into the net. It was a fine goal – involving 22 passes and all 11 United players.