Rasmus Hojlund’s injury time goal grabbed a point for Manchester United as 10-man Bournemouth suffered a blow to their hopes of European qualification.
Andoni Iraola’s men looked set for victory thanks to Antoine Semenyo’s 11th goal of the season midway though the first half.
But the contest turned on a controversial decision to upgrade Evanilson’s 70th-minute challenge on Noussair Mazraoui from a yellow card to a red following a video assistant referee (VAR) review.
Evanilson appeared to slip as he closed down the United defender but referee Peter Bankes upgraded his initial yellow card, meaning the Brazilian must now serve a three-match ban.
United piled forward looking for an equaliser and after Mason Mount’s shot had been deflected wide, Hojlund turned Manuel Ugarte’s effort home from close range after the Uruguay midfielder had been set up by Luke Shaw.
The result lifts Ruben Amorim’s side to 14th in the Premier League but, in truth, their sights are fully trained on Thursday’s Europa League semi-final first-leg trip to Athletic Bilbao.
But the goal is devastating for Bournemouth, who remain below Fulham and Brighton in the quest for an eighth-place finish which would secure a spot in next season’s UEFA Conference League if Crystal Palace don’t win the FA Cup.
Late leveller leaves Cherries with a bitter taste
Hojlund’s late effort was a bitter pill for Bournemouth manager Iraola to swallow, particularly as neither he nor his coaches believed Evanilson’s red card was deserved.
The loss of a vital two points and the suspension that will rule the Brazilian out until the final game of the season against Leicester – by which time the Cherries might well know their fate – could prevent the campaign delivering the first European place it seemed for so long it would.
It will be little consolation to Iraola and his players to reflect – it is so easy to forget it is only 15 years since Bournemouth were promoted out of the fourth tier of English football, as Doncaster and Port Vale have been this weekend.
Development on the pitch since then has been clear, even given this eventual disappointment.
But now owner Bill Foley has big plans off it as well, with an expansion of the Vitality Stadium to take the capacity up to 20,000 planned within the next couple of years.
Even that would be just over a quarter of the size of Old Trafford. The Cherries matchday income in their recently published accounts to 30 June 2024 was £6.53m compared to United’s £137.13m over the same period.
Evidently, Bournemouth have put their spending to better use.
At the back, Dean Huijsen and Milos Kerkez excelled as usual, and Alex Scott kept them ticking over in midfield. Crucially, unlike their opponents, they were equally effective at either end of the pitch.
Kepa’s stunning reaction save to deny Alejandro Garnacho an equaliser, after the Argentina international had raced clear on to Bruno Fernandes’ cross-field pass was sensational.
But so too was the clinical nature of Semenyo’s finish as the visitors failed to clear after Patrick Dorgu had initially been ambushed close to the touchline when United tried to play out from the back and the ball was whipped into the penalty area.
It wasn’t quite plain sailing for Bournemouth after that but with a historic first European campaign at stake, they seemed to have the grit and determination to keep United out even when they were left a man down.
Sadly for them, Hojlund had other ideas.
Point gained but more problems for Man Utd
The resilience Amorim’s side showed to keep going and claim their point will offer some solace before such a big fortnight for the United head coach.
Hojlund has now scored two in eight games which, if not quite free scoring, should at least provide some confidence before the Bilbao games when goals, from anywhere, will be so precious.
Teenager Chido Obi is still to score and though he was denied late on by Kepa, it is asking too much for a 17-year-old to lead an attack at his level, meaning Hojlund has a massive role to play.
But overall, it was another of those occasions when Amorim’s team looked less than the sum of their parts.
On paper, his starting line-up, containing 10 full internationals, was a good one. Initially, there was some intricate play through midfield and while it did not lead to a major threat on the home goal, it promised more to come.
Instead, as has been the case so often, United gave up a goal to their opponents far too easily with Shaw – who completed the full 90 minutes on his first start of the campaign – giving a short pass to Dorgu, who had nowhere to go by the touchline, rather than electing to open the game out either in front of him or to the right.
It is that kind of basic decision-making under pressure that continues to undermine Amorim’s tactical revolution – and cannot happen again in Spain this week when it really counts.
[BBC]