West Brom Sneak out of Old Trafford with 0-0 Draw vs. Manchester United

West Bromwich Albion survived a late onslaught to escape Old Trafford with a point during Saturday's Premier League action, holding Manchester United to a 0-0 draw.

The Baggies frustrated United throughout the afternoon with their strong defensive effort and unwillingness to attack. Manager Tony Pulis and his troops played for a draw the full 90 minutes, and the Red Devils had no answers.

Per United's official Twitter account, Jesse Lingard made the starting XI in place of the injured Juan Mata, while Michael Carrick and Marouane Fellaini formed the midfield pivot:

The absence of both Mata and Paul Pogba was expected to hamper United's creativity, and West Brom took full advantage early. Marcus Rashford was as active as ever and tried to get involved, but a lack of service made it very difficult.

Lingard fired the first shot of the match over the bar, and while only 10 minutes had been played, Ben Foster already took his sweet time getting play started again. Anthony Martial was judged to have fouled his marker before getting off a header, but the ball didn't trouble Foster either way.

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Jonny Evans made a great clearance to deny Martial a chance, and Fellaini wasted a great chance after a free-kick by handling the ball before he could get a shot off.

Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News noted the Red Devils struggled without Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mata:

Lingard nearly opened up the Baggies defence with an excellent cross that somehow failed to find a target, and Martial came inches short of turning home a delivery from Antonio Valencia. Chris Brunt blasted a free-kick into the wall for one of the few chances the visitors managed in the first half.

A deflected shot from Fellaini fell to Martial, who had his effort blocked, and Lingard wasted another good chance with a poor touch.

After just a single minute of added time, the first half came to an end, and sports writer Liam Canning was disappointed with the hosts:

Allan Nyom got himself booked for a bad tackle on Carrick to start the second half, setting the tone early. The Cameroon international almost teed up Rashford shortly after, but Evans bailed his team-mate out with a great tackle.

Darren Fletcher should have tested David De Gea but took too long to get his shot off, and Fellaini somehow failed to put a glorious chance on target after a scramble in the Baggies' box.

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Martial nearly broke the deadlock with a superb strike that just flew just wide after 57 minutes, but West Brom stood firm and kept their defensive form.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan finally gave Foster a real challenge, finding his way into the box before trying his luck with a chip. The chance seemed to wake the hosts up, and Rashford was the next man to test the stopper.

Luckhurst started getting excited:

Manager Jose Mourinho gambled by replacing Mkhitaryan with Wayne Rooney to launch his final offensive, and the increased pressure nearly got to Evans, who narrowly avoided putting the ball in his own net.

Nyom was lucky to escape a second yellow for a foul on Lingard, with Old Trafford screaming at official Mike Dean to send him off.

Per Luckhurst, Dean didn't have it easy on Saturday:

Rashford put a shot wide after a good run as time started to run out on the Red Devils. The hosts were nearly shocked on the other end when De Gea made a mess of a strike from Darren Fletcher, pushing the ball against the crossbar.

Foster kept his team alive with a huge save on Rashford, and United pressed with a series of late crosses. The ball never fell right, however, and the Baggies held on for the draw.

As shared by Match of the Day, Mourinho was on edge after the match:

United's next outing will be at home against Everton, while West Brom visit Watford.