After Leeds United's surprise victory over Chelsea, Nuno Espirito Santo and his squad were in dire need of the three points.
No Paqueta for West Ham
Though they'd lost to Liverpool in their last fixture, the Hammers had been on a three-game unbeaten run beforehand, and therefore will have arrived at the Theatre of Dreams with a degree of confidence.
They were, however, without Lucas Paqueta, who had got himself ridiculously sent off against the Reds, the Brazilian replaced by Tomas Soucek in West Ham's only change.
For the hosts, talk of Ruben Amorim's immediate future being in danger has subsided, and if the Red Devils were able to continue with a recent upturn in results and get another victory, they could look forward to sitting as high as fifth at the close of play.
Bruno Fernandes' 205th Premier League start meant he'd equalled Nemanja Vidic in terms of non-British or Irish players (excluding goalkeepers), and is now only behind Patrice Evra (265) and Mikael Silvestre (225) in this regard.
Bruno leading by example
The Portuguese was a major reason why Man Utd had 72% possession in the opening stages of the match, with the early signs certainly ominous for the Hammers.
Alongside Casemiro, the midfield pair ensured that there was no way through centrally, though the visitors had already identified a weakness down United's right side, and had managed to execute three early attempts at goal via that channel.
Former United man, Aaron Wan Bissaka, had already shown his willingness to get forward in the opening 20 minutes, and had the most touches of anyone on the pitch at that point.
A subsequent player-of-the-match performance helped to keep the East Londoners alive in the game despite some incessant United attacking.
13 of his 19 passes in the final third were accurate (68%), and all five of his dribbles were successful.
Nine of his 13 duels on the ground were also won, not to mention clearing Joshua Zirkzee’s effort off the line to stop a certain goal.
The right-back's excellence at both ends of the pitch was therefore in evidence.
Everything but scoring...
How the hosts themselves could've done with similar output.
Indeed, United's collective possession stats far exceeded West Ham (64.9% - 35.1%), but the team were still somewhat lacking when it came to having enough players prepared to roll up their sleeves and put in a shift.
The Irons' 20 interceptions compared to just five from Man Utd spoke volumes.
That said, there certainly was a period in the first half when the hosts did everything but score.
Five shots at goal came in the space of seven minutes, including Fernandes rattling the woodwork - his 36th shot against West Ham without scoring - which is the most against any opponent as a United player without finding the net.
As the game approached half-time, the hosts' possession stats had increased to 84% and 18 crosses had also been attempted, though this apparent dominance hadn't been converted into goals and was surely a concern for all.
Perfect Todibo
Still, the visitors held firm, with Jean-Clair Todibo the only player on the pitch not to have misplaced a pass in the opening 45 minutes.
The Frenchman had formed a significant barrier to United's attacking intent along with Konstantinos Mavropanos, and that allowed the Hammers a platform from which to build, even if they were certainly overwhelmed at times.
Diego Dalot's 58th-minute opener was therefore not unexpected, though Nuno will be furious that his fellow Portuguese was left completely unmarked by the penalty spot to fire home.
As United continued to press, Bruno was again in the thick of it, creating five chances for the first time since playing against Burnley.
To West Ham's credit, however, they would not lie down, and Jarrod Bowen was again setting the captain's example.
12 touches in the United box were at least eight more than any of his teammates, and his four shots were double that of any other Hammer.
Magassa earns a point
Soungoutou Magassa's recovery of possession on seven separate occasions is also worthy of mention, and it was thanks to the Frenchman that his side earned a point too.
Just his second touch in the United box saw him bury a chance after Noussair Mazraoui's poor attempt at a clearance from a corner.
It wasn't the best way or time (83') to concede, and Amorim can't have been happy that, since the start of last season, only West Ham themselves (17) have conceded more Premier League goals from corners than Man Utd (15).
The goal knocked the stuffing out of hosts who had still been in control of the ball for the most part, and the East Londoners took full advantage of the opportunity to be able to sit back and defend for the final moments.
Bruno would still have the final say with two efforts during injury time; however, United will look back on this one as two points most definitely dropped.
