Casemiro was sent off for the second time this season as Manchester United held on for a point in a 0-0 draw with Southampton during a lively Old Trafford battle.

No fewer than 28 shots were fired over the course of the 90 minutes – 10 for the hosts and 18 for Ruben Selles‘s side – but David de Gea, Gavin Bazunu and the woodwork all had the final say in a memorable encounter.

Despite lining up in an attack-heavy formation, Man United left Bazunu relatively untroubled in the early exchanges and ceded the first shot on target in the 11th minute, but Kyle Walker-Peters‘s low drive was straight at De Gea.

Nevertheless, the Red Devils soon began to test Bazunu’s gloves – the red-hot Marcus Rashford was denied twice by ex-Manchester City product in the 16th minute – but De Gea out-did his colleague with a superb point-blank stop from Theo Walcott‘s header eight minutes later.

The Saints were certainly giving a permeable Man United midfield and backline something to think about, so a red card for Casemiro would have been the last thing that Erik ten Hag needed, but that nightmare scenario came to fruition in the 33rd minute.

The five-time Champions League winner was initially given a yellow for a studs-up tackle on Carlos Alcaraz, but a VAR review upgraded his punishment to a red card – his second of the season – and he cut a disconsolate figure as he trudged down the tunnel

From the resulting free kick, James Ward-Prowse‘s deflected effort fizzed just wide, but the men with the gloves continued to shine in the first half as Bazunu denied Raphael Varane from a few yards out.

A couple of Man United penalty shouts were waved away before a frenzied first half came to an end, and the chaos did not die down after the restart, as Aaron Wan-Bissaka‘s goal-line clearance prevented Scott McTominay from scoring an own goal in the 49th minute.

Nails were bitten en masse for the Old Trafford faithful when Ward-Prowse stepped over a free kick in the 54th minute, but the dead-ball connoisseur struck the bar – another let off for the 10 men of Man United, who were firmly under the cosh at the start of the second half.

Nevertheless, De Gea’s resistance remained unbroken – the Man United number one denied Walcott’s chip one-on-one in the 64th minute – and it was soon Bazunu’s turn to steal the spotlight with a wonderful save from Fernandes onto the post four minutes later.

The woodwork at one end had not stopped rattling before Walker-Peters crashed the frame of the goal at the other in the 69th minute, as the game somehow remained goalless heading into the final 20 minutes

Selles’s side looked the more likely to score in the dying embers, but the Saints would happily accept a point in arguably the most entertaining goalless stalemate of the Premier League season so far.

Man United stay third in the table – two points clear of Tottenham Hotspur with a game in hand – ahead of next weekend’s FA Cup quarter-final with Fulham, while Southampton remain bottom and host Brentford on Wednesday evening