Bournemouth 1, Manchester United 1
An injury time goal by Rasmus Hojlund ensured Manchester United grabbed an injury time point at 10-man Bournemouth.
Embed from Getty ImagesHojlund was barely aware of the goal but will gratefully accept his first goal in 8 games for the Reds – only his 9th goal of the season and second since December – after a shot by Manuel Ugarte took a deflection off the Dane to beat Kepa Arrizabalaga in the Cherries’ goal in the 6th minute of added time at the end of the game.
It was hard on Bournemouth who were almost over the line following a 23rd minute Antoine Semenyo opener but Andoni Iraola’s side looked set to fend off the toothless Reds for a massive boost to their European hopes.
United had struggled to beat their hosts who had been controversially reduced to 10 men on the 70th minute when Evanilson slipped and collided with Noussair Mazraoui as he tried to close down the Reds defender.
A VAR review prompted referee Peter Bankes to upgrade his yellow card to red which set the scene for massive pressure from the Reds who kept trying to score until the very end of the game.
Andoni Iraola admitted that the blow could cost Bournemouth a place in Europe, saying: “It’s very frustrating. It’s two points [lost] that could be very costly.
He added: “We hit the post too and even with ten players we tried to survive but it was not possible.”
Ruben Amorim shared the frustrating, adding: “I feel like we lost two points today. The start of the game was hard for us, we lost possession in our build-up – the goal was like that.
“In the second half, especially after the red card, we could arrange ways to get inside the box – we are improving at that.”
The draw allowed United to rise to 14th but their eyes are solely on Thursday’s Europa League semi final trip to Bilbao to face Athletic Club in the venue for this summer’s final.
United are gambling everything on winning the Europa League – an influx of Champions league money is the prize for rescuing United’s worst season in the Premier League era.
But can they rely on a lucky finish against 10 players every week?