Manchester United took on Bournemouth at the Vitality on Saturday in Premier League action, here are five things we learned from the game.
At Vitality on Saturday evening, Manchester United took on Bournemouth and it was another goal-fest which began with Dominic Solanke making it 1-0, courtesy of a Willy Kambwala slip.
United then pulled it back to level terms, through Bruno Fernandes as he smashed it into the roof of the net from close range.
But the Cherries weren’t done as Justin Kluivert made it 2-1 to the home side before half-time.
After the break, United’s woes continued with poor football being played, although a handball gave Fernandes the chance to double his tally and draw the team level.
This is how it ended, a 2-2 draw which effectively ends any hope of Champions League football next season.
Here are five things we learned from United’s draw with Bournemouth.
Bruno Fernandes puts in a captain’s display
For United, Fernandes was the main man on Saturday, as he scored two goals which were arguably the only chances to do so the entire team had.
Despite being visibly annoyed and frustrated he kept his cool and was leading every press as he touched every blade of grass.
He also hit the crossbar, but you just got the feeling that on Saturday without Fernandes, it might’ve ended up a bad day for United.
Ten Hag’s captain certainly saved his manager a real embarrassment here.
Defensive disaster class once again from United
The past few months for United have seen some exciting and high-scoring games, but these are only happening as the defensive structure is appalling.
Every time Bournemouth got the ball they found acres of space, even in the box with 5ft 11in Milos Kerkez being allowed to win a header while five white shirts watched on.
It’s baffling exactly what Ten Hag is doing in training as there is no structure defensively and there hasn’t been all campaign.
He either doesn’t see a problem or is completely clueless about how to solve it.
Willy Kambwala has the mentality to succeed here despite mistake
The defensive side of United as mentioned was horrendous again, but Kambwala can hardly be blamed for this considering it’s been happening all year.
Aside from his obvious early mistake, he made another impressive performance, bouncing back well from his early blunder.
Some last-ditch tackles and blocks kept United in the game, and he also played a vital role in the first goal from Fernandes. Top mentality, as most would crumble after such an obvious mistake.
Albeit he was lucky to not give away a late penalty, with Ryan Christie running straight into him only for VAR to rule it a free-kick.
Alejandro Garnacho needs more rest time
In the first half, like against Liverpool, Alejandro Garnacho was very quiet and looked as though he’d already played 90 minutes by the 20-minute mark.
The Argentine has been needing rest for weeks, having had little time to do so since he began starting weekly in November.
At just 19, he must be looked after so that he doesn’t end up burnt out and becoming injury-prone early in his career.
The Champions League dream is now well and truly over
Coming into this game, we all saw Tottenham lose pretty emphatically to Newcastle, which left the door ajar for United to continue having an outside chance of Champions League qualification.
But that would’ve only remained the case with a win against Bournemouth.
Now this hasn’t happened, United are 10 points off with just six games left which means we probably need to win every game and hope Villa or Spurs capitulate.