Manchester United sealed runners-up spot in the Premier League, despite being denied victory by the inspired form of West Ham goalkeeper Adrian.

The result leaves Jose Mourinho’s side four points clear of third-placed Tottenham with one game left.

United were wasteful at times, but Adrian did make three superb saves in the West Ham goal.

David Moyes’ side remain 15th in the table after securing their survival against Leicester last week.

Despite West Ham’s attempts to generate an atmosphere at the London Stadium for this fixture – by adding huge concourse motifs of their former captains and record-breakers – there were a large number of empty seats.

And the game was reflective of an end-of-season affair, with the only moment of note in the later stages a confrontation between both sets of players after Paul Pogba had fouled Mark Noble.

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Audition for Wembley?

While unwanted results in this fixture (a defeat and a draw) contributed to United missing out on top-flight titles in 1992 and 1995, there was no such importance placed upon this encounter.

With Manchester City confirmed as champions on 15 April, United required a point to seal a second-place finish and manager Jose Mourinho instead appeared to use the fixture as an audition for a place in his FA Cup final line-up against Chelsea on 19 May.

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Deploying a three-man defence, the Portuguese boss made eight changes to his starting XI from the one that lost at Brighton, reintroducing the likes of Phil Jones, Alexis Sanchez and Luke Shaw.

Captain Antonio Valencia created United’s best opportunity of the first period, which Hammers goalkeeper Adrian expertly parried from Alexis Sanchez before brilliantly deflecting Shaw’s blistering follow-up onto the post.

England midfielder Jesse Lingard also restated his case for inclusion at Wembley with a lively performance that carried threat without goals – Adrian repelling three of his efforts.

As the minutes ticked down, United appeared to settle for their point instead of chasing all three.

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Isolated Arnautovic

After ensuring the club’s Premier League survival at Leicester, Moyes said he wanted West Ham “to look up the table” as he sought to end the season with a potential – but unlikely – top-10 finish.

Victory would have drawn West Ham level with Newcastle in 10th place – albeit with a significantly worse goal difference – but the hosts struggled to match such ambition as they exhibited the symptoms of a team that has failed to win consecutive Premier League fixtures since January 2017.

Despite the best efforts of Marko Arnautovic, who has delivered 10 goals since Moyes converted him to a central striker earlier in the campaign, the Hammers struggled to impose themselves.

The Austrian international appeared to have the better of United defender Chris Smalling from the moment he turned past him in the seventh minute and fired straight at United goalkeeper David De Gea from 20 yards.

And while that narrative continued, he too often cut an isolated figure as West Ham’s attacking threat amounted to just two shots on target and one corner in 90 minutes.

Man of the match – Adrian (West Ham)

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‘We are the second best team in the Premier League’ – what they said

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho to MOTD: “We are the second best team in the Premier League, a fantastic competition with lots of good teams with six teams trying to finish first. We came second, I am not totally happy – that is not my nature. But since the moment we felt it was impossible to finish first we had the target to finish second and it is done today.

“I am not critical of the performance at all. Against Brighton, at half-time I told the players they were going to lose and tonight at half-time I said we would win. I was wrong but we were positive in the game. In the 80th minute we know that a point was enough so we start thinking about that and we let the game go.

“I had no view of the incident at the end, it was all good. Now we have the objective to finish with more than 80 points. It is normal that Michael Carrick is captain at Old Trafford for the last game of his career. David De Gea will be rested, it gives a chance for Sergio Romero to play, I can make changes.”

West Ham manager David Moyes to MOTD: “A good point for us, maybe they will say the same as well. Our boys showed a great attitude after getting safe at the weekend.

“They were bang at it. We have conceded a lot of goals this season so a clean sheet is great. At this stage of the season you don’t get great games.

“Declan Rice played very well tonight, the boys at the back did a good job. With a bit more care we would have scored on the break.

“It was hardly worth talking about [the incident at the end]. The referee handled it well.

“Since the Burnley game we have worked hard, we took the players away which is the best thing we have done. We have done OK against the bigger sides at home.

“We wanted to climb the league table so we will try and win on Sunday. But we have done the job we came to do – we are not relegated.”

Mourinho maintains record over Moyes – the stats

• Manchester United have guaranteed second place in the Premier League, their highest position since winning the league in 2012-13.
• The Reds have kept more clean sheets than any other Premier League side this season (18).
• West Ham kept only their third home Premier League clean sheet against Man Utd in 22 matches against them (also August 1998 and December 2006).
• Jose Mourinho has managed more matches against David Moyes without losing (13 – W8 D5) than against any other manager in his managerial career.
• Manchester United have won just five of their last 18 away Premier League matches in London (D4 L9).
• Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired at the end of the 2012-13 season, no Premier League team has drawn more matches nil-nil than Manchester United (19, level with Southampton).

What’s next?

West Ham welcome Everton to the London Stadium on Sunday 13 May (15:00 BST) for their final game of the season. Manchester United face Watford at Old Trafford on the same date (15:00 BST) before heading to Wembley to play Chelsea on 19 May (17:15 BST).

Live Text

Match ends, West Ham United 0, Manchester United 0.

Second Half ends, West Ham United 0, Manchester United 0.

Substitution, Manchester United. Eric Bailly replaces Antonio Valencia.

Luke Shaw (Manchester United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Foul by Andy Carroll (West Ham United).

Substitution, Manchester United. Ashley Young replaces Alexis Sánchez.

Attempt missed. Manuel Lanzini (West Ham United) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left from a direct free kick.

Foul by Victor Lindelöf (Manchester United).

Andy Carroll (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Mark Noble (West Ham United) is shown the yellow card.

Paul Pogba (Manchester United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Foul by Paul Pogba (Manchester United).

Mark Noble (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Phil Jones (Manchester United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Foul by Andy Carroll (West Ham United).

Foul by Paul Pogba (Manchester United).

Andy Carroll (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Attempt missed. Mark Noble (West Ham United) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Marko Arnautovic.

Attempt missed. Marko Arnautovic (West Ham United) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Mark Noble with a through ball.

Delay over. They are ready to continue.

Substitution, Manchester United. Marcus Rashford replaces Jesse Lingard.

Delay in match Cheikhou Kouyaté (West Ham United) because of an injury.

Foul by Ander Herrera (Manchester United).

Manuel Lanzini (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Attempt missed. Paul Pogba (Manchester United) right footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Alexis Sánchez.

Attempt missed. Paul Pogba (Manchester United) right footed shot from more than 35 yards is too high. Assisted by Jesse Lingard.

Substitution, West Ham United. Andy Carroll replaces Arthur Masuaku.

Attempt missed. Chris Smalling (Manchester United) header from the right side of the six yard box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Alexis Sánchez with a cross following a corner.

Corner, Manchester United. Conceded by Pablo Zabaleta.

Attempt missed. Paul Pogba (Manchester United) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Antonio Valencia with a cross.

Attempt blocked. Pablo Zabaleta (West Ham United) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Marko Arnautovic.

Foul by Ander Herrera (Manchester United).

Manuel Lanzini (West Ham United) wins a free kick on the right wing.

Attempt saved. Jesse Lingard (Manchester United) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Paul Pogba.

Offside, Manchester United. Luke Shaw tries a through ball, but Alexis Sánchez is caught offside.

Attempt blocked. Paul Pogba (Manchester United) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Alexis Sánchez.

Attempt missed. Paul Pogba (Manchester United) header from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Alexis Sánchez with a cross.

Corner, Manchester United. Conceded by Aaron Cresswell.

Attempt blocked. Jesse Lingard (Manchester United) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Paul Pogba.

Second Half begins West Ham United 0, Manchester United 0.