Olivier Giroud rose tall and headed an 88th-minute equaliser for Arsenal to rescue a point against a dominant Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Spain international Juan Mata opened the scoring after some fine interplay between Paul Pogba and Ander Herrera, who laid in Mata to stroke home past Petr Cech in the 68th minute. This was just reward for the home side who dominated the match from midway through the first half.

Giroud scored with his side’s first shot on target in a rare attack by the London side to hold Manchester United to their third successive home draw. This has not been matched since 1992.

The visitors may have dominated the opening half in terms of possession, but neither side created enough goal-scoring chances until Mata fired off a well-placed effort in the 36th minute, denied by Cech with a full-stretch dive.

Anthony Martial, starting on the left, grew in confidence but Cech pulled off two saves to keep the Frenchman’s name off the scoresheet.

Both sides had reason to frown in the first half when Antonio Valencia was denied a penalty after being brought down by Nacho Monreal. Andre Marriner waved away the appeals as he had done minutes earlier when Matteo Darmian escaped a sending off after a second bookable offence.

Mata’s strike ensured a lively finish to the second half and the home side will wonder how Marcos Rojo failed to hit target and end the match as a contest. Daley Blind’s cross found the Argentina international open at the far post, but his miss allowed Giroud to write the headlines.

Giroud’s header was the Arsene Wenger side’s first against a team led by Jose Mourinho in nine years. Yet, the visitors left with a valuable point in a match in which they offered little going forward.