Man Utd 0 Bournemouth 3
Bournemouth travelled to Old Trafford to face Man Utd at a ground that they had never won at. The hosts went into this game full of confidence after Erik ten Hag was awarded the manager of the month award and Harry Maguire player of the month for November.
The hosts started the game trying to play the ball out from the keeper and as Shaw sprinted towards the halfway line, he was dispossessed by a great sliding challenge from Kluivert. Semenyo lost the ball out wide and United looked to pass the ball out once again.
Cook showed more willing as he stole the ball from McTominay and ghosted past the United defence before looking up and cutting it back from the byline, looking for Solanke. The in-form striker made a run to the near post and clipped a first-time effort past Onana in the Man Utd goal.
Old Trafford was silenced by the early goal as the hosts tried to find a way back into the game. Maguire got his head to a cross and his looping header was turned over the crossbar by Neto. The effort was neither enough to beat the keeper or reignite the noise from the home end.
Credit: @premierleague
The Cherries attacked once again and a mazy run from Semenyo saw him find Kerkez, his clipped cross found the head of Solanke. Onana palmed the ball straight into the air for Tavernier to head home. Fortunately for ten Hag’s side, the flag went up as Solanke had just strayed offside.
Andoni Iraola’s side were opening up the Man Utd defence whenever they came forward and Solanke got another shot off at goal but saw his effort come back off the post. A big let-off for the home side.
Many were amazed by ten Hag getting the manager of the month award as the talk is constantly about whether he will be sacked or not. Victories over Fulham, Luton and Everton were enough for the powers that be to decide he was the monthly messiah though.
United started the second half on the front foot and as Reguilon crossed into the box, both McTominay and Fernandes were to see their shots at goal blocked by sliding challenges from Kerkez as he put his body on the line for The Cherries.
As the Red Devils tried to move through the gears Hojlund was the next player to have chance but his shot was blocked by a Bournemouth defender. The replay showed that his effort was going well wide of the goal had no one intervened however.
Dalot steamed forward into the visitors’ half, playing a neat one-two, before finding himself in the box. Hojlund was the obvious pass, unmarked in the box, but the defender opted to go for goal from a tight angle and could only find the side netting.
Credit: @afcbournemouth
Hojlund was furious with his teammate for not passing the ball to him but you have to wonder if they have begun to lose confidence in him as he continues to search for his first Premier League goal in a Man Utd shirt after 798 minutes on the pitch.
Solanke continued to cause the hosts problems and as he ran through their midfield, laying the ball out wide to Tavernier. He crossed to the back post and Billing attacked the ball to head past Onana and double Bournemouth’s lead.
The chance came from Shaw gifting away possession with a loose pass and ironically it was the same player who was beaten to the ball as The Cherries scored their second. It was proving to be another lacklustre performance from Man Utd, with players looking disinterested once again.
Lewis Cook was pulling all the strings for Iraola’s side in the middle of the park and it was his free-kick that caused Dalot to concede a corner. While Tavernier’s first attempt was cleared behind, the second effort found Senesi with a free header to score the visitors’ third goal.
The boos rang out from the home fans as vendors outside the ground quickly replaced their stock of red scarves with green and yellow ones. Old Trafford started emptying out like there had been an announcement that the Stone Roses were doing a free gig outside the ground.
As Amrabat got himself into trouble near his own box, Bournemouth won possession and Ouattara bundled his way past Onana to knock the ball into the net and make it four-nil. By this stage, you could see more seats than people in the home end.
Fortunately for Man Utd fans VAR was to rule this one out for handball, although it was a questionable decision as the ball flicked up onto his arm from a deflection off Onana. It was difficult to judge from the replay if it even hit his hand.
Andoni Iraola got the biggest scalp of his managerial career at Bournemouth and his side fully deserved it to continue their fine form. Bruno Fernandes picked up a yellow card for dissent late on in the game to rule him out of a trip to Anfield next weekend, very convenient.
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