Edinson Cavani nearly scored with his first touch for Manchester United as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men fought out a goalless draw with Chelsea in the pouring rain.
Having lost this season's previous Premier League home matches to Crystal Palace and Tottenham in chastening fashion, the Red Devils were looking to make it third time lucky as their top-four rivals arrived at an empty Old Trafford.
But neither side fully mastered the challenging conditions in the north-west, where substitute Cavani went close to making a dream debut impact that would have compounded Chelsea's exasperation at the lack of video assistant referee intervention.
