Manchester: Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic had a penalty saved and was fortunate to avoid a red card in an incident-filled 1-1 draw against 10-man Bournemouth on Saturday, the latest Premier League setback at Old Trafford for Jose Mourinho's team.
A week after winning the League Cup for United with a double against Southampton at Wembley Stadium, Ibrahimovic endured a frustrating return to league action by seeing his 72nd-minute penalty clawed away by Artur Boruc.
The Swedish striker was involved in many of the flashpoints in a thrilling game, notably when he elbowed Tyrone Mings in the head moments after the defender appeared to tread on the face of Ibrahimovic late in the first half. The referee missed both incidents and the two players could face retrospective action by the English Football Association.
As part of the same incident, Andrew Surman was sent off for collecting a second yellow card for pushing Ibrahimovic in an angry reaction to the striker's challenge on Mings.
Earlier, Marcos Rojo's first Premier League goal, in the 23rd minute, was cancelled out by former United player Josh King's penalty in the 40th after Phil Jones fouled Marc Pugh. That was Bournemouth's only shot on target.
It was a 10th league draw of the season for United, who were seeking a victory to climb from sixth place – the position where Mourinho's team have been for the past few months as they recover from a poor start to the campaign.
United have now drawn at home to Stoke, Burnley, Hull and Bournemouth.
"What happened was that we played phenomenal in the first half and should have been winning 3-0 or 4-0 - then it ended up 1-1," Mourinho said.
"In the second half, we played different team with a man less. I understand their need for one point in the survival battle and they just defended to make it difficult for us ... We felt pressure of the clock running down and lost the quality of our attacking football."
United are on 49 points, the same as fifth-placed Liverpool, which hosts fourth-placed Arsenal later Saturday.
