The bare facts are that Manchester United missed the chance to end their marathon stay in sixth place and Bournemouth picked up a point to arrest the perception they are in freefall.
Facts, though, do not provide the entire picture on an afternoon of contentiousness and controversy.
Its consequences could be considerable, and not just if they cost United Champions League football.
Bournemouth’s mercurial goalkeeper was at fault for Gareth McAuley’s winner for West Bromwich Albion last week.
But he made amends in magnificent fashion, saving a Zlatan Ibrahimovic penalty and denying Anthony Martial, Wayne Rooney and Paul Pogba amid a string of saves.
The referee, Kevin Friend however had quite a lot of controversial calls today.
He sent off one player, after seemingly forgetting he had booked him twice, allowed two others to stay on the field for more reprehensible offences, awarded two penalties and provided the sense he was guessing after losing control of a surprisingly bad-tempered game.
All this series of events happened on the stroke of half-time.
Having crunched into a challenge with Rooney, Tyrone Mings stamped on Ibrahimovic’s head. It was an offence that went unnoticed by referee Friend, but not by the Swede himself. From the subsequent corner, Ibrahimovic, who had already been cautioned, elbowed Mings.
Andrew Surman, the other man cautioned before, pushed the striker, although not with sufficient force to send a man of his size tumbling.
United were absolutely very disappointing against a 10-man team and ultimately lost the opportunity to close the gap on close rivals in the top four race.
