It was honours even in Thursday night’s Manchester derby as United held firm to claim a vital point against City at the Etihad Stadium, despite being reduced to 10 men late on.
The Blues dominated what was, at times, a fiery game and the Reds were forced to play the final 10 minutes of normal and added time after Marouane Fellaini was dismissed for a clash with Sergio Aguero.
The result leaves the Manchester rivals still well-placed in the race for a top-four finish, with both sides hot on the heels of Liverpool having played a game less than the Merseysiders.
Mourinho made four changes to the side which won so comfortably away at Burnley four days earlier with Antonio Valencia, Michael Carrick, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marcus Rashford coming in for Ashley Young, Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Wayne Rooney.
United were on the attack from the off with the front three of Mkhitaryan, Rashford and Anthony Martial interchanging nicely, but it was City who had the first clear-cut chance when Kevin De Bruyne got in down the right on nine minutes. His low cross found the menacing Sergio Aguero who struck the outside of the post with his shot.
At the other end, the pace of Rashford and Martial kept the City defenders on their toes and a cross from Martial on 25 minutes almost led to the opener for the Reds. Claudio Bravo could only palm the centre into the path of Mkhitaryan, but the City goalkeeper recovered to block the Armenian’s shot.
Despite Eric Bailly being in imperious form at the heart of United’s backline, David De Gea was the busier of the two keepers in the first period and he dealt well with long-range efforts from Aguero and Aleksandar Kolarov as half-time drew closer.
Arguably the best opportunity of the half fell to the lively Ander Herrera when he rose unmarked to meet a Rashford free-kick at the back post, but the Spaniard found the wrong side of the post with his header.
