Hull City were within minutes of writing another fairytale story to their return to the Premier League, when Marcus Rashford struck in the second minute of injury time to dampen the spirits of the relegation favourites after a blistering start to their campaign.
Hull sit back as United flood forward in the pouring rain
Unsurprisingly, former Manchester United midfielder and assistant manager Mike Phelan set up with the same starting lineup that had earned the Tigers victory in their opening two games, with still only 14 fit senior professionals available.
Yet it was a similar display to the successes earlier in the month, defending deeply in numbers before springing forward to try and catch the opposition out on the counter-attack. However, movements forward were few and far between for Hull as Jose Mourinho's United side produced wave after wave of attack.
Whilst Marouane Fellaini sat deep, most of the play went through new signing Paul Pogba, who looked to release the wide players, particularly on the left side, to feed the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney in more central areas.
Ibrahimovic went close early on as he headed an Anthony Martial cross over, whilst Rooney was thwarted by a goal-saving block from the excellent Curtis Davies. Ibrahimovic then saw two more chances go begging on half-time. Pogba himself began to attempt strikes from long range as they players in front of him could not find the net and time began to run out for the visitors.
Hull themselves had offered moments of threat throughout the game. Robert Snodgrass, who later came off injured, floated a free-kick just wide, before Tom Huddlestone saw an effort drift just off target following a deflection from Eric Bailly. David Meyler also fired over just minutes before the super sub worked his magic.
Rashford the hero once more
As the rain continued to pour down, United continued to flood forward as the Hull defence began to drain itself after a committed display. Eventually a lack of options from the bench was to catch up with them and ultimately cost them a valuable point in the 92nd minute.
Rooney skipped past a tired Ahmed Elmohamady as the visitors continued to threaten on the left side, before the England captain threaded the ball through Jake Livermore's legs and into the box. For the first time all evening, Davies lost his man when Rashford had the freshness to pounce and prod home a winner as the young man's stock continues to grow.
United join title challengers Chelsea on three wins from three games, whilst Manchester City have the opportunity to join them later in the weekend. Attention for Hull now reverts back to trying to secure the services of new owners and new players before the transfer window closes, with Cardiff City goalkeeper David Marshall set to be their first major signing of the summer.