Bournemouth 2, Manchester United 2
Manchester United had to come from behind to earn a point at Bournemouth thanks to two moments of magic from Bruno Fernandes.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe result means that United languish in 7th place, below Newcastle United on goal difference and fully 10 points behind Aston Villa and Tottenham in the 4th and 5th spots although hopes of qualifying for the Champions League next season with just six games to go are remote at best.
The Reds may also find themselves having to privately cheer for the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, West Ham and Aston Villa being more successful in their European campaigns to hand England a fifth Champions League spot while simultaneously hoping for either Villa or Spurs to fail at least four times in their remaining six league games and for Newcastle to fail at least once.
Worryingly for the Reds, West Ham are only two points behind them in 8th and and Chelsea in 9th are six points behind but have two games in hand – if United fall any further from 7th they could record a worst ever league Premier League position at the end of a very forgettable season.
United will count themselves lucky not to have lost a second Premier League game to Bournemouth after two penalty decisions went their way today.
“It was definitely not a penalty, but we know we had to win – we have dropped too many points.” said Reds boss Erik Ten Hag of the chaotic match.
After another 20 shots today United have faced 574 shots this season – second only to Luton Town who have played a game more – and failed to build on their FA Cup win over Liverpool, with three draws and a defeat since that shock result in March.
The Cherries had taken the lead courtesy of a 16th minute strike from outside the box after Willy Kambwala was left trailing after Dominic Solanke had left the young defender on the ground and in his wake following poor control by Alejandro Garnacho allowed Marcos Senesi to take control of the ball and release Solanke.
Once again United were poor, ceding control of their Swiss cheese midfield, but they somehow managed to find an equaliser when Fernandes volleyed home from close range after he pounced on a deflected cutback by Garnacho.
Bournemouth were soon in front again after they sliced through the porous United defence time and again with Justin Kluivert drilling the ball inside the near post after 36 minutes with Kambwala after Senesi found him.
Auxiliary attacker Milos Kerkez’ header hit the bar while Kluivert drew a great save from Andre Onana as the Cherries peppered the United defence with shots – 20 in all.
Kerkez was denied a penalty after going down in the United area while Fernandes struck the crossbar with a dipping long range effort.
Kobbie Mainoo’s shot deflected off a Bournemouth defender and into Adam Smith’s arm – handball was the on-field decision and VAR did not overturn it leading to the United captain’s second goal from the penalty spot.
Ryan Christie was booked for diving before winning a penalty deep into injury time before VAR intervened once again and concluded that the infringement had started and finished just outside the area to the anger of home fans.