Manchester United's goalscoring frustrations threatened to boil over during an exchange of invective between Marcus Rashford and Harry Maguire.
In the 69th minute of United's third successive goalless draw at Crystal Palace, Maguire attempted to maintain pressure by lobbing the ball forward to Rashford but he was flagged offside.
Maguire could be heard telling Rashford to 'f-----g stay onside' and Rashford did not hold back with his reply as United fell 14 points behind runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City.
Rashford wasted an excellent chance in the first-half when he dragged a shot wide during United's most dominant spell of another dreary draw and they have now gone nearly five hours without scoring.
"That was good play," United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer noted. "And Marcus just put it wide. That was a little moment that if we had scored there that was the moment we were on top. But, apart from that, it was a very even game and hard-fought game."
Dean Henderson made his first Premier League start since December 17 and kept an eighth clean sheet in 13 for United this season. The 23-year-old had little to do at Selhurst Park until the 90th minute when he denied Patrick van Aanholt in a one-on-one.
David de Gea was missing due to personal reasons but Solskjaer refused to clarify if Henderson would remain in goal for Sunday's Manchester derby.
"I can’t really say about David, it’s a private matter," Solskjaer stressed. "Dean is ready if he’s called upon, you saw that. He kept his concentration.
"I think maybe it would have been called offside but at the moment I thought that Dean saved us a point because it looked like that was a deciding moment and that was probably the biggest chance of the game apart from Marcus in the first-half."
Victor Lindelof sat out the draw due to a recurring back problem and Eric Bailly partnered Maguire, but Lindelof could return at City this weekend.
"Victor struggled with his back," Solskjaer clarified. "When he plays on a Sunday night that was a demanding game and he did really well and I didn’t want to play him if I didn’t have to and Eric is more than capable and he played really well tonight as well.
"So the decision on Sunday; I’m not giving it to you now. Hopefully Victor’s back is ok now he’s had that rest that he needs."
