There were 95 minutes and 40 seconds on the clock when Luke Shaw crossed low into the Bournemouth penalty box and Manuel Ugarte poked the ball goalwards to the feet of Rasmus Hojlund.

Manchester United’s goal-starved striker had scored just once in 31 hours and four minutes, and maybe this was just the opportunity he needed. Right in front of goal, almost no time to think. Hojlund angled his right foot to steer the ball into the back of the Bournemouth net.

Did United deserve a draw? Just about, maybe, on the balance of play. Certainly after the home side were reduced to 10 men for the remaining 19 minutes of normal time and nine minutes of injury-time.

It could be quite the tonic for United too as they avoided a third straight Premier League defeat ahead of Thursday’s Europa League semi-final first leg against Athletic Bilbao in Spain.

They also narrowly avoided a 16th league defeat for the first time since 1990 and prevented Bournemouth becoming the sixth team this season to do the double over them which hasn’t happened since 1934. 

Rasmus Hojlund struck deep into injury time to rescue a point for Manchester United

Hojlund turned the ball home at the near post to draw his side level late on in the game

The striker’s instinctive finish saw the points shared at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday

Antoine Semenyo gave the home side the lead midway through the first half of the game

United are already safe from relegation but there is still a danger Ruben Amorim’s side could suffer the ignominy of finishing fourth from bottom.

Just as well then that they can still salvage something from this shambles of a season in the Europa League. The only other good news here was that United appeared to avoid any injuries ahead of the trip to Bilbao, although Noussair Mazraoui was taken off shortly after Evanlison was sent off for a foul on him in the 71st minute.

Antoine Semenyo fired Bournemouth ahead at the Vitality Stadium midway through the first half, showing why he is on United’s list of striker targets this summer if they fail to sign Liam Delap from Ipswich – and if they could even afford his £70million price tag.

It wasn’t quite enough for victory but what an encore Andoni Iraola has produced to an excellent first season on the South Coast as their record points total in the top-flight rose to 50.

Amorim named a strong line-up ahead of the first leg, clearly deciding that keeping his players sharp was worth the risk of further injuries after Diogo Dalot was ruled out.

Luke Shaw made his first start of the season after five appearances as a substitute under Amorim, with Harry Maguire, Leny Yoro and Casemiro also returned to the line-up after last weekend’s defeat at home to Wolves.

Shaw was deployed as a left centre-back in Amorim’s back-three which allowed Mazraoui to replace Dalot at right-wing-back and Patrick Dorgu to remain in his preferred position on the left.

‘I have the responsibility to put a strong team against this Bournemouth side,’ said Amorim before kick-off. ‘It will be a tough game but we had a full week to prepare the players. I am trying to manage winning the game but also preparing for the next one against Bilbao. We need to bring intensity. We need to be focused.’

Focus isn’t the word that springs to mind when comes to assessing United’s first-half performance here. Too often they tried to play out from the back and ended up inviting needless pressure – a problem that arose several times before it led to Bournemouth’s opening goal in the 25th minute.

Andre Onana played the ball short to Shaw and he squared it to Dorgu who was already under pressure from Adam Smith. The Bournemouth captain stole possession and got to the byeline before cutting the ball back to Evanilson who played it into the path of Semenyo. The Ghana international showed why he has caught United’s attention as he took one touch before whipping a shot inside Onana’s near post.

Alejandro Garnacho offered United’s biggest threat of an equaliser before half-time after needing treatment for a heavy challenge from Tyler Adams in the 20th minute. It was a genuine 50-50 but Adams caught Garnacho on his right ankle and it deserved a yellow card from referee Peter Bankes though not a red after VAR decided it was reckless rather than dangerous.

After absorbing early pressure from the home side, Garnacho unleased a fierce effort just wide of the far post after receiving a pass from Mazraoui on the right and cutting inside.

By far United’s best chance came from the same combination in the 38th minute when Mazraoui angled a diagonal pass over the Bournemouth defence, and Garnacho ghosted in behind Illia Zabyarni who didn’t seem to sense the danger. Garnacho did everything right by allowing the ball to bounce and then lifted it over Kepa, but the Bournemouth keeper produced an excellent save to touch it wide.

The Argentina winger and Mazraoui also had shots blocked after a United corner before Garnacho ended the half by firing narrowly wide again.

However, it was Bournemouth who went closest to extending their lead in the opening moments of the second half. Dean Huijsen brought the ball out from the back and fed Dango Ouattara on the left. He made ground before crossing to Justin Kluivert who teed up Semenyo and he was inches away from a second goal of the game with a first-time shot just past the angle.

Ouattara then rattled the post when he almost caught out Onana with a free kick from out wide on the right, and that was the cue for Amorim to make a triple substitution as he sent on Mason Mount, Victor Lindelof and Manuel Ugarte for Casemiro, Mainoo and Maguire.

Bournemouth were reduced to men in the 71st minute when Evanilson went into a challenge with a Mazraoui and left the United player writhing in agony on the floor. In the Brazilian’s defence, he seemed to slip but it caused him to connect with both feet on Mazraoui’s upper and lower leg.

The referee gave him the benefit of the doubt with a booking, but VAR wasn’t so forgiving this time. Mr Bankes was advised to go to the pitch-side monitor and the yellow card was upgraded to a red.

Even then, United struggled to find away through as Milos Kerkez got just enough on Mount’s goalbound shot to deflect it wide in the 89th minute before Bruno Fernandes slipped the outside of the upright from distance. But Hojlund was ready when opportunity knocked again and United had a point.