Manchester United and Bournemouth have played one of the matches of the Premier League season so far, exchanging blows in a thrilling 4-4 draw that saw Ruben Amorim experiment with formations.
The Portuguese had to build a solid defensive 3-4-3 system at times, but looked like they were playing a tweaked or completely changed formation from the kick-off. Indeed, by the middle of the second half he became more alert and adopted a 4-2-4.
Whatever tactics Amorim deployed, there is no doubt that Manchester United had the upper hand in the first half. Their 17 shots were the most of any Premier League team in the opening 45 minutes of a game this season.
Manchester United had a deserved breakthrough in the 13th minute, with Amad Diallo getting the nod for his final appearance before the African Cup of Nations. A quick VAR check was carried out for offside and Matheus Cunha was also scrutinized, but the goal was disallowed.
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Amad Diallo scores Manchester United’s first goal
Despite a good performance, defensive mistakes reared their head again in the run-up to Bournemouth’s equalizer. Luke Shaw darted out of the way too easily, allowing Antoine Semenyo to step forward. He then scored a goal against the flow of the match and headed home.
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Antoine Semenyo scored Bournemouth’s equalizer in the first half.
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Casemiro put Manchester United back in the lead late in the first half.
But, unsurprisingly, Casemiro put Manchester United back in front with a corner kick just before half-time, the home side’s seventh from a set-piece this season, with only Arsenal (nine) scoring more.
But just seven minutes after the break, the Red Devils somehow found themselves trailing 3-2. Bournemouth equalized 38 seconds into the second half with a fine finish from Evanilson, before Marcus Tavernier curled a superb free-kick into the bottom left corner.
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Evanison made it 2-2 for Bournemouth 38 seconds after the break.
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Bournemouth took the lead thanks to Marcus Tavernier’s free-kick.
The pendulum then swung in the other direction as Manchester United quickly scored two goals to regain the lead. Bruno Fernandes equalized with a wonderful free-kick, and Cunha gently turned the ball home in the packed box.
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Bruno Fernandes scored for Manchester United, making it 3-3.
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Matheus Cunha reacts after Bruno Fernandes’ equalizer to put Manchester United ahead
It always felt like another goal was coming, but it was Bournemouth who fought back again to conclude an incredible eight-goal thriller. Eli Junior Crupi, who came on as a substitute, added a number of quality goals, breaking through the central defenders and firing arrows into the goal.
The result moves Manchester United into sixth place with 26 points, level with Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Sunderland. Bournemouth have moved up to 13th place.
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Eli Junior Crupi scored the equalizer for Bournemouth to make it 4-4 against Manchester United.
“It was the best I’ve ever seen Manchester United play under Amorim.”
Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher talks about Monday Night Football:
“We’ve seen the Premier League’s best games of the season so far. That’s what makes it the greatest league in the world, the greatest piece of work or whatever you want to call it.”
“Certainly I think Manchester United’s performance under Amorim was the best I’ve ever seen it, probably going back to the first game of the season against Arsenal.
“Manchester United were fantastic for the first 25 to 30 minutes. It was like Sir Alex Ferguson. Fast, attacking football, people were energetic, running forward, aggressive, getting on the front foot, winning the ball back early. There was a lot of that.
“Bournemouth were out of the race in the first half, but they were great in the second half.”
Amorim: The result should be different.
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim told Sky Sports:
“It was a fun game. We started very well and the first half was very good. The result could have been completely different.”
“We lost concentration and they scored two goals. But we managed to get back into the game and score two goals again and we have to finish the game.”
“We need to think about not playing again, but calmly finishing the match. There are a lot of good things, but there are also a lot of things to work on.
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Ruben Amorim described the 4-4 draw with Bournemouth as an “enjoyable game” but felt Manchester United should have won the game after coming back into the lead late on.
“Sometimes we don’t win games with the details, because it’s the back four, the back three, the back five. It’s the details that we need to work on, we need to understand the momentum of the game. We need to be more clinical because today we played against a very good team and we created a lot of chances to win the game.
“We need to focus on a different performance today than the last two games at home. That’s also what we’re looking at. The result is the same and it can be frustrating at certain points, but the performance is different.”
Iraora: The game that has it all
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Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola talks honestly about the 4-4 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola told Sky Sports:
“Everything was in place. We are comfortable in the moments when we think we lost and the moments when we think we got this.
“Even at the very end, we had two clear chances, so I was thinking, ‘Maybe we can win this.’ It’s just a point, and it’s not that many in the standings, but I think we can absorb the good and the bad from today.”
“We’re two teams that play pretty aggressively, pretty open, and we were probably a lot better on offense than we were on defense today. The second goal was a cheap goal, a cheap conceded goal for us. The corner kick wasn’t even a great header.”
“We finished the first half very well. It felt good when we scored 1-1, and we finished the first half much better. That’s why it hurt to concede just a goal from a corner kick, even though it was a good moment.”
“We didn’t even know if we were happy with the game or if we wanted to wait another minute.”
