When is the defense going to defend?
Manchester United saw its 2-1 lead and 4-3 lead at Old Trafford disappear with lackadaisical defending as the Reds share a point with 13th-place Bournemouth in a Monday Night eight-goal thriller.
Coming out of the dressing room at halftime, Bournemouth found an equalizer in the 46th minute before finding a go-ahead goal six minutes later. Marcus Tavernier was the catalyst as he assisted Evanilson and netted a free kick — a free kick earned after a yellow card offense from Casemiro that will see the midfielder out for United’s next match for accumulation.
United found their answer 25 minutes later. Bruno Fernandes stood over a free kick right outside of the box following a sequence that saw Matheus Cunha uncork a shot outside of the box, forcing a punch out by the Bournemouth keeper. Fernandes gathered the deflection and knocked it off the arm of Bournemouth’s Adam Smith, earning the free kick. Fernandes ripped an unsaveable, world-class shot that curled over the wall and dipped into the right upper corner.
Cunha sparked a United counter two minutes later as Benjamin Sesko eventually carried the ball up the middle before squaring a ball toward to Cunha. The potential assist took a slight deflection, but Cunha still gathered the shot and fired in what should’ve been the game-winner.
However, seven minutes later, Bournemouth’s Alex Jimenez unlocked Eli Kroupi with a through ball up the middle. The forward ripped a left-footed curler past Senne Lammens and into the net for the draw-sealing equalizer.
The match was not fully decided though as the match featured a minimum of eight minutes of second-half stoppage. Lammens was called into action to make two result-saving saves inside of the box in the sixth and 10th minutes of stoppage. The second save prevented one of the final kicks of the match as the full time whistle rang out moments after United’s final counter attack fizzled out.
The pregame conversation swirled around Ruben Amorim’s comments about a stylistic shift — at least in the short term. Indeed, during the match, United appeared to play a four-man backline in possession with Leny Yoro out as the rightback, Ayden Heaven as right centerback, Luke Shaw as left centerback, and Diogo Dalot as the leftback. Out of possession, Yoro would tuck in as Amad Diallo tracked back.
United were the aggressors to start the match, and they had the opening goal 12 minutes into the match. Diogo Dalot cut in from the left wing and played a cross to the top of the six-yard box to Cunha who nearly got his head to the ball but the ball ricocheted off the keeper’s arm instead and deflected straight into the ground. The ball then popped up into the air for an opportunistic Amad to hop and head the ball in at the goal line.
By the 35th minute, United outshot the visitors 12(3)-3(1) while earning three corners and owning 54 percent of the possession. But they would rue their missed opportunities to kill the game off.
At the 40th minute, Mason Mount had the ball on the left side but found himself in condensing space as Bournemouth players closed in on the ball. A poor pass to Luke Shaw on the sideline left the defender vulnerable and bullied off the ball as Antoine Semenyo raced up the right wing with the ball, carrying into the box and lacing a low-driven shot across the goal mouth that ricocheted off the inside of the far port before deflecting into the net.
United regained momentum in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage. Fernandes delivered a corner kick to Casemiro who got free at the back post.
The Reds are headed south for a massive fixture at red-hot, third-place Aston Villa on Sunday, Dec. 21. Villa is on a nine-match winning streak which includes a signature home win over first-place Arsenal.
Category: General Sports
