Manchester United know how to give some hope to the fans, as they did against Chelsea in midweek, but on Saturday afternoon they were as appalling as only they know how. Bournemouth came to Old Trafford and got themselves a comfortable 3-0 win, thanks to the goals from Dominic Solanke, Philip Billing and Marcos Senesi, who punished every mistake United made. Here is what we learned from United’s seventh Premier League loss in their 16th match of the season.
Lackadaisical Bruno
Bruno Fernandes has often been criticised this season and in this match there are couple new ones that have to be mentioned. United were back at Old Trafford after their energetic win against Chelsea and five minutes in, they went behind after Dominic Solanke’s opener.
That goal came following United’s loose ball, which came as a result of Bruno’s lackadaisical lob pass from the left-back position, towards McTominay. The Scot did not get to poor pass in time and couple of seconds later, the ball was already in United’s net. Another thing that caught the eye of many was Bruno’s unnecessary yellow card in the 84th minute, for arguing with the referee. By then was clear United will not get anything out of the match and the Portuguese’s lack of discipline led to him getting booked, which means he will now miss the big clash against Liverpool. Not really captain-like.
McTominay From Hero To Zero
Scott McTominay was brilliant when he scored a brace against Chelsea, but in this match, he was far from such a strong performance. In fact, this match further highlighted all the problems in his game that goals cannot mask. For the first goal, McTominay lacked strength in his duel, even though it was more of Bruno’s fault for a poor pass. Later on, his poor backwards pass in the middle of the pitch led to another swift counter-move from Bournemouth, resulting in Solanke hitting the post seconds later. Defensively, McTominay offered nothing in the middle of the pitch, whilst managing to lose possession on nine occasions, despite only making 56 touches throughout the 90 minutes.
Set Pieces – Set Problems
Only four teams in the league conceded more goals from set pieces and United added another one of those to their tally, when Bornemouth scored their third via Marcos Senesi after 73 minutes. It was painful to see how desoriented United’s defence was in this situation, leading up to Senesi being alone on the far post and just inches outside of the six-yard box. Man United allowed 64 shots from set-pieces this season which is almost three times more than league’s best team in that regard, Arsenal (23). Even the likes of Brentford and Brighton far ahead with 47 and 40 respectively. It seems that problems are happening way too easily when the opponents have their deadball situations.
Iraola Is Igniting Wonders
Looking at the form table of the Premier League, for the past five rounds, Bournemouth are the very top. They won 13 out of 15 points, as many as Liverpool and Aston Villa, and one more than Arsenal. That is why they are now closer to United who somehow sit in sixth place (eight points behind the Devils) than they are to the relegation zone (10 points ahead of Luton). Andoni Iraola has done a brilliant job, his team knew against United exactly where to press the weak areas of the team, never really getting troubled to win the match.