Casemiro secures the three points for Manchester United with an acrobatic goal, while Bournemouth lose their final home game of the season.
Bournemouth welcomed Manchester United to the Vitality Stadium for their 3pm matchup on Saturday in what would be their final home game of the season. When the south coast side visited Old Trafford on game week 19, the Cherries fell to a 3-0 defeat, but they looked to overturn that result on Saturday after guaranteeing yet another year in the Premier League. United came into the game with an unchanged starting 11, while Bournemouth made five changes – one being David Brooks who has missed 20 months of first-team football due to his recovery from cancer.
The away team kicked off the afternoon under the perfect sunny weather conditions, and it wasn’t too long until they maintained that possession and started playing their own game. Casemiro took on the first shot of the game at the five-minute mark, ballooning it over the crossbar, not causing any problems for the goalkeeper Neto.
Early on, Bournemouth struggled to regain the ball, as this well-drilled United side knew top 4 was at stake. And it was in the ninth minute that the Manchester club drew first blood, with Eriksen dinking the ball into Casemiro’s path where the Brazilian produced an acrobatic finish to make it 1-0. The Cherries’ back line got caught napping and it was definitely a wakeup call, but the Vitality Stadium continued to push Gary O’Neill’s men forward.
The home side were getting unlucky with some refereeing decisions in the first 20 minutes, and the home crowd quickly became agitated. With Solanke dropping a bit deeper to help his side defensively, the hosts were mostly without a focal point in the first half. However, his first big chance came in the 27th minute after weaving through the United defence and forcing an impressive save from David De Gea, keeping the ball out of the Spaniard’s bottom-left corner.
After the half-hour mark, Bournemouth certainly grew into the game and United started making more mistakes. Successive attacks and fluid football blatantly began to worry the visitors.
With five minutes of the first half left to go, the ball presented itself nicely to Casemiro on the edge of the box. Although it wasn’t one of his cleanest strikes, it still forced a necessary save from Neto.
A minute later, Bournemouth ran up the other end and a Smith-Christie link-up almost came to fruition. The fullback’s cross was just behind the Scot meaning he had to adapt his attempt on goal by swivelling and shooting – but the weak connection just meant a harmless catch for De Gea.
The one minute of added time saw a singular chance involving Dominic Solanke heading the ball just over the crossbar, not troubling De Gea – and that saw out an interesting first half that came at the fans in bursts.
The hosts began the second half similarly to how they ended the first. David Brooks forced a flash save from De Gea in the 47th minute with his shot from 12 yards always rising, but it looked like a sign of what was to come.
Dominic Solanke’s shot in the 54th minute glanced just wide of the left post after a fancy pass from Christie stretched the Englishman and made the angle a lot slimmer.
Just 10 minutes into the second half, David Brooks exited the field for Kieffer Moore, while Wout Weghorst entered the fray in place of Anthony Martial. With these changes, it was evident that if there was to be a next goal, it would completely alter the complexion of this game.
The home crowd’s frustration levels were significantly tampered with by Solanke when he skipped past Casemiro, didn’t pass it, and Eriksen got back in time to prevent any significant opportunity. The referee’s decision-making was also unfavourable towards the home fans, judging by their reactions.
Bournemouth made a double change in the 66th minute, with Matias Vina and Dango Outtara coming on in place of Adam Smith and Ryan Christie. The hosts were beginning to fade in this game and these substitutes were definitely required.
Jadon Sancho couldn’t really get involved, so Ten Hag took him off the field for Alejandro Garnacho in the 72nd minute. The Argentinian was causing plenty of problems down that left-hand side after his introduction.
Bruno Fernandes pulled the trigger when the ball fell to him on the edge of the box, producing a smart save from Neto in the 76th minute.
With the final quarter of an hour to go, the legs on each team were becoming tired.
The substitutes, Outtara and Moore, produced some great interplay and the Welshman ultimately made De Gea pull off a smart save by using his feet – though it was a save he should be making.
McTominay and Fred came on for the visitors, in place of Antony and Eriksen, in a bid to hold onto these very important three points. But Bournemouth kept on coming and the home crowd were relentless.
A minimum of four minutes were to be added on to the original 90. The Cherries were desperate for a goal and they were leaving everything out on the field. One final free kick saw Neto lump the ball forward with all their players in United’s box. The ball landed to Senesi on the edge of the box, which he hit on the volley, but it went over De Gea’s crossbar – marginally – and that was the final piece of action.
Bournemouth’s final home game of the season ended in defeat, with Casemiro dealing the only blow throughout the game. It could be argued that the home side got unlucky with some refereeing decisions, but the likes of Moore and Solanke definitely had an adequate amount of chances to put the Cherries ahead. Meanwhile, United now need just one more point to secure a Champions League spot for next season.