Bournemouth 1-1 Manchester United: Premier League – live reaction
Key events
“That red card,” says Andy Flintoff, “was similar to one for Fernandes earlier in the season, which was reduced on appeal as he slipped too. It doesn’t help Bournemouth now, of course.”
“One feature of ‘Amorim’s beloved back three’ (83 mins),” says Colum Farrelly, “is that you never know who might be in it. Like the midfield – any combo of five or six players. And the forwards. There is never a settled anything, except for Onana. And even he’s not a constant. The players must be well confused about who’s supposed to be where.” True. It takes top-class players to cope with that. With Shaw moving into centre-stage for the last 20 minutes, they did look better, but then they only had ten opponents.
So Andoni Iraola doesn’t join the club of managers who have done the double over United. But he does maintain his unbeaten record against them. United ended up having 25 shots, six of them on target; Bournemouth had eight, with just the one on target. When it was 11 v 11, Bournemouth were the better side, but thereafter, for 28 minutes, they showed that they weren’t born to park the bus.
“The glower of Sir Jim Ratcliffe,” says Eric Peterson, “gives him an uncanny resemblance to Roger Waters, as if he’s thinking about all those times the other jerks in Pink Floyd had the nerve to have musical thoughts of their own.”
“If Liverpool had stopped playing at Christmas,” says Marie Meyer in Santa Fe, “they’d still have more points than Man United.” Ha. According to Whoscored.com, it would actually be a tie – 39 all. But point taken.
The upshot is that Bournemouth stay 10th. Their chances of a place in Europe, already slim, are now vanishing, given their tough fixture list. United, on the other hand, soar to 14th, one place above Everton.
FULL TIME! Bournemouth 1-1 Man United
Fergie time does the trick! Well, up to a point. A draw is progress for United. Bournemouth paid in the end for the red card for Evanilson, whose slip eluded both the ref and the VAR.
90+9 min Obi goes down just inside the box, but it’s just a collision. Corner to United… they try something too elaborate, which ends with Shaw overhitting a cross.
90+7 min Iraola replaces Ouattara with Jebbison, probably to kill time.
GOAL! Bournemouth 1-1 United (Hojlund 90+6)
They’ve found the net! Hojlund adds a flick to someone else’s shot. He could be offside, but no… the VAR gives the goal.
90+5 min United advance again. Garnacho, in his natural habitat now on the left wing, lets the ball roll under his foot and out for a throw-in. The home fans enjoy that.
90+3 min Chances for Garnacho, Eriksen and Fernandes! The first two were scrappy but Fernandes had a clear sight of goal. His shot from distance was curled artfully but not quite sharply enough.
90+2 min Final United sub: Dorgu is replaced by Eriksen, who takes over from Fernandes on corner duty.
90+1 min Chance for Obi! Sent through by Shaw, he does well to keep his balance and shoot for the top corner, where Kepa paws it out.
90 min There will be NINE more minutes. Where’s Maguire when they need him?
89 min Chance for Mount! Dorgu’s cut-back reaches him near the penalty spot, but his shot is deflected wide. Chance for Shaw! Fernandes finds him with a corner, but Shaw’s volley goes wide.
87 min If the score stays like this, Amorim will have lost 12 league games out of 23. A camera finds Jim Ratcliffe, who says he likes Amorim – but has been known to change his mind rather abruptly.
86 min Shaw wins a corner with a classy cross. He’s still got it.
85 min Bournemouth sub: Senesi for Semenyo as Iraola shores up his defence. Exit Semenyo, pursued by a big hand.
83 min I think Amorim has abandoned his beloved back three. It looks like 4-4-2 with Dorgu now at right-back and Hojlund and Obi up front. If it is a back four, that’s the third time Amorim has made this switch when in a tight corner. Both the previous times – late on against Forest and Lyon – the second striker was Maguire. It bore no fruit at Forest but brought the two last-gasp goals against Lyon. And United didn’t concede either time.
78 min United on the prowl again. Garnacho’s cut’-back can’t find a team-mate. As Bournemouth threaten to counter, Shaw takes one for the team.
77 min Chance for Obi! Shaw, now at left-back, executes a model overlap and cut-back, but Obi can’t quite sort his feet out in time to put any power into his shot.
76 min Amorim sends on a fourth sub, and it’s a bold one: Chido Obi, the teenage centre-forward, for Mazraoui, the seasoned odd-job man.
75 min And Bournemouth can still be a danger on the break. Some good work from Tavernier wins them a corner, which they can’t turn into a chance.
73 min One of the Bournemouth coaches, Neil Moss, collected a yellow card. Now the question is: can United make use of their good fortune. Answer: not right away, as Dorgu’s airy cross makes it easy for Kepa.
71 min Bournemouth subs: Tavernier for Kluivert, Cook for Scott.
RED CARD! Evanilson
Bankes had given a yellow, but now he brandishes a red. And the VAR, much to Alan Smith’s disgust, has not mentioned the possibility of a slip. “Dumbfounded about that one… It’s a total accident.”
69 min Peter Bankes is being sent to the monitor….
68 min The VAR is looking into a tackle from Evanilson on Mazraoui. “I do think he slipped,” says Alan Smith.
65 min United subs, three of them. Off goes Harry Maguire, United’s best striker in recent weeks, as Lindelof comes on. And the pivot goes too as Casemiro and Mainoo give way to Ugarte and Mount. That presumably means that Fernandes will go from a 10 to a 6.
65 min Dorgu again, threatening to get away on the counter. Kluivert fouls him and takes a yellow for the team.
64 min Dorgu tries a chip-cross and almost nicks a goal.
63 min Dean Huijsen, usually so classy, gets a yellow card for delaying the re-start after being penalised for pushing Hojlund.
62min If you’re a United fan, don’t panic: Victor Lindelof is about to come on.
61 min “Say what you like about Garnacho,” writes Duncan Edwards, “but mark my words if he gets eight or nine decent chances he’s going to score. Definitely. Or at least stretch the keeper. Probably. In truth I only hope Fernandes leaves the stadium under his own steam and can have a nice rest before Thursday.” Ha. He doesn’t go in for rests, does he?
60 min Woodwork! Ouattara, taking the free kick that Dorgu allegedly conceded, rattles the top of the near post. And then Zabarnyi shoots just wide.
58 min Dorgu gets a yellow card for an alleged foul on Adam Smith. Another Smith, Alan, springs to Dorgu’s defence, showing that he got the ball.
56 min Chance for Fernandes! Or so he thought. Dorgu set Garnacho free down the left, and his cutback was a good one which Fernandes could only skew. But the flag was up – Garnacho had gone too early.
54 min United are hanging in there, as so often in the league these days.
52 min Bournemouth win a corner, which Onana punches away for another corner.
50 min Garnacho wins a free kick. Fernandes swings it over the crowd for Maguire, but can’t reach him. Up the other end, Evanilsen aims a cross too close to Onana. It looks as if Bournemouth had the better energy drinks at half-time.
48 min Chance for Evanilsen! An inviting cross comes in from the left and Evanilsen gets in behind Shaw, but can’t apply the finishing touch.
47 min Chance for Semenyo! He latches onto a simple square ball from Kluivert and tries a screamer … just wide.
46 min United kick off and go back to Onana.
Sky go over to Anfield, where it looks as if the open-top bus parade has already begun. There’s never a good moment for Manchester United to lose a game, but this would be a particularly bad one.
“Man Utd’s default pass,” says Phil Haran, “is back to the keeper. Only if that is prevented do they go forward and then only far enough to go back. It’s so easy to panic them with a good press.”
HALF-TIME Bournemouth 1-0 Man United
United got a bit better after going behind, but the score isn’t lying. Bournemouth have been the better team and thanks to Antoine Semenyo’s fierce shot, they have something to show for it.
45+1min In the first of two added minutes, Garnacho has a shot from distance, left-foot, low, and just wide.
44 min Rasmus Hojlund has been the invisible man again today. He gets the ball now, as United clear a free kick, but there’s nobody with him and he just dribbles out of play.
42 min Dorgu gets to the edge of the Bournemouth box, slips, handles the ball, gets up and slips again. He’s so willing, but he’s been there three months without achieving an assist.
41 min Going 1-0 down seems to have got United’s juices flowing. But Bournemouth are always happy to play on the break and now Scott sprints down the left. He sends in a decent cross, but there’s nobody there to tap it in.
39 min There was a second VAR check for a penalty, also not given, as Semenyo was manhandling Maguire. Not an easy thing to do.
38 min Big chance for United! Fernandes, coming to life now, aims a long ball towards Kepa. Garnacho runs onto it and manages a flick, which Kepa does well to fend away for a corner.
38 min No pen.
36 min United manage some pressure at last. Mainoo has a shot that is deflected well wide for a corner. Mazraoui has a shot and so does someone else. There’s another corner, and a VAR check for a penalty.
35 min Right on cue, Fernandes is easily dispossessed. He looks a bit lost today. He’s been in central midfield so often that he may have forgotten how to play as a 10.
32 min Alan Smith makes a good point. “Amorim talking this week about intensity, and the need for his side to get better in that department, but they’re not showing much of it here.”
