MANCHESTER UNITED 4, BOURNEMOUTH 1
A brace by Paul Pogba and an incisive strike by Marcus Rashford earned Manchester United the points in a first half show of style and power at Old Trafford against Bournemouth.
Embed from Getty ImagesGranted, the Cherries had never won at Old Trafford in 7 visits and after 5 minutes defeat felt inevitable for the injury-hit visitors even though Nathan Ake’s first half injury time goal gave Bournemouth hope.
It was soon extinguished by an offside goal by second half sub Romelu Lukaku and the Reds even coped with the late sending off of Eric Bailly to finish off the visitors.
United mercilessly exploited the weak left side of the depleted Bournemouth defence from the start.
Pogba converted a right wing cross by Marcus Rashford after just five minutes to open the scoring with a stabbed finish from five yards out.
And Pogba doubled the advantage after 33 minutes when he headed home Ander Herrera’s deep cross from 6 yards out.
United’s third killer goal on the stroke of half time saw Anthony Martial’s cross from the right converted by Rashford with a sliding effort from the edge of the six yard box.
The only blot on the Reds copybook was a consolation goal for Bournemouth in first half injury time where poor marking allowed David Brooks time and pace to find Nathan Ake for a header from six yards past David De Gea.
In the second half Luke Shaw put Rashford through for a fourth but Asmir Begovic was off his line quick to collect the ball.
Reds boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made his first change after 70 minutes, reintroducing Romelu Lukaku after injury for Rashford.
Lukaku duly scored, seconds after coming on slotting past Begovic after a through ball from Pogba although the big Belgian appeared to have strayed offside on replays.
Pogba could have completed his hat trick with 15 minutes to go but his thundering strike came off the post after being finger-tipped by Asmir Begovic away from a certain goal.
Herrera was replaced by Andreas Pereira but United went down to ten men after 80 minutes when Eric Bailly was sent off for a wild two-footed sliding challenge on substitute Ryan Fraser.
It was the third red card of his Old Trafford career for the Ivory Coast defender.
The atmosphere in Old Trafford was immediately deflated but the Reds already had the game won and saw out their third win in a row under their new boss.
Solskjaer’s United may not have been able to keep a clean sheet for him yet but they provided a packed home crowd with plenty of entertainment once again as the Norwegian joined Matt Busby and Jose Mourinho as one of only three managers to have repeated that feat for United.
PLAYER RATINGS – Manchester United 4, Bournemouth 1
David De Gea: 6. Had to stay alert on Bournemouth corners as his defenders let him down.
Ashley Young: 6. Got the break for the second goal but could have been sent off for sliding challenge in the first half.
Victor Lindelof: 6. Had his hands full looking after defensive set pieces.
Eric Bailly: 5. Defensively solid but sent off late on for a rash tackle on Ryan Fraser.
Luke Shaw: 6. Most of United’s attacking play came from right side so Shaw had little to do until a through ball put through Rashford in the second half for what should have been a goal.
Nemanja Matic: 6. Started the move that ended with Paul Pogba’s second goal.
Ander Herrera: 7. Licence to go forward with Jesse Lingard and add an extra body to attack, also came back to defend too, blocking Nathan Ake’s header on the line and clearing it.
Jesse Lingard: 6. Central attacking role for Lingard who was fairly anonymous.
Paul Pogba: 9. Early goal showed the chains are off, and almost created another for Marcus Rashford. Almost got on the end of an Anthony Martial lob too and was pinging quickfire passes around in the second half to release Rashford for runs on goal. Was denied a hat trick by Asmir Begovic and the post late on.
Anthony Martial: 7. A bit isolated on the left wing. Good chip to almost release Paul Pogba for a second goal but found Marcus Rashford with a cross for United’s third goal.
Marcus Rashford: 8. Super skills to get the ball to Paul Pobga for United’s opening goal. Had a shot blocked by Nathan Ake soon afterwards but scored a deserved goal when he met Anthony Martial’s cross late in the first half.
Romelu Lukaku (for Marcus Rashford 70): 6. Instant impact even though his goal was offside.
Andreas Pereira (for Ander Herrera 76): 6. United went down to ten men soon after he came on and had to reorganise.
Phil Jones (for Anthony Martial 82): Tactical substitution after Eric Bailly was sent off – purely to shore up the defence. No time to mark.
GOALS – Manchester United 4, Bournemouth 1
Man Utd 1, Bournemouth 0: 5. Paul Pogba stretched out to stab in a close range cross, 4 yards out, by Marcus Rashford who skipped past Nathan Ake and Diego Rico to put the cross in from the right.
Man Utd 2, Bournemouth 0: 33. Paul Pogba headed the second in from 6 yards out after a deep cross from Ander Herrera found him unmarked rushing towards goal following Ashley Young’s break down the right wing.
Man Utd 3, Bournemouth 0: 45. Anthony Martial lifted the ball into the 6 yard box from the right to find Marcus Rashford who slid the ball in from 5 yards out.
Man Utd 3, Bournemouth 1: 45+2. David Brooks crosses from the left for Nathan Ake whose header from 6 yards out beats David De Gea.
Man Utd 4, Bournemouth 1: 72. Romelu Lukaku latches onto Paul Pogba’s through ball to polish off the Bournemouth resistance from 10 yards out. There was more than a hint of offside about that.
MATCH STATS – Manchester United 4, Bournemouth 1
Man Utd: De Gea, Young, Lindelof, Bailly, Shaw, Matic, Herrera (Pereira 76), Lingard, Pogba, Martial (Jones 82), Rashford (Lukaku 70)
Man Utd Subs not used: Romero, Mata, Fellaini, Darmian
Booked: Young 36, Herrera 51
Sent Off: Bailly 79
Goals: Pogba 5, 33
Bournemouth: Begovic, Steve Cook, Ake (Mings 82), Daniels, Ibe, Stanislas, Brooks (Mousset 66), Surman, Rico, King, Wilson (Fraser 66)
Bournemouth Subs not used: Boruc, Simpson, Lerma, Defoe
Attendance: 74,556