Morning everyone and welcome to our coverage of today’s Premier League early kick-off between Manchester United and Bournemouth.
The starting line-ups are in and we’re counting down the minutes to the 12.30 kick-off at Old Trafford:
Following last weekend’s EFL Cup final win, Jose Mourinho’s side now have the chance to move into the top four (temporarily at least) if they take the three points on offer today.
Meanwhile, Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth sit four points above the drop zone in 14th and will be hoping to get their campaign back on track, having lost their last four Premier League clashes.
Of the last three times the sides have met, United have won on two occasions.
- Bournemouth 1-3 Manchester United (Premier League, 08/16)
- Manchester United 3-1 Bournemouth (Premier League, 05/16)
- Bournemouth 2-1 Manchester United (Premier League, 12/15)
The hosts are also unbeaten in their last 16 Premier League games.
The players are out, the fans are set and we’re nearly ready for off.
We’re underway. Rooney has missed an early chance, his header hitting the roof of the net. Meanwhile, Bournemouth are also on the attack early. King beats Jones down the left, but his low cross is knocked out for a corner.
The fixture is off to an exciting start. Pogba comes close and nearly gets the scoreboard ticking after a 60-yard off-the-ball run. Shaw played the ball into the Bournemouth half, which Pogba ran on to. He moved into the area and hit a low shot that was excellently handled by Boruc. He’s kept on his toes as Mata also has a close-range shot but is deemed offside.
Martial makes great work off a potential threat coming in from the left to test Boruc again.
Seconds earlier, Rooney and Ibrahimovic combined to make a mess of a great chance, while Afobe slipped when through on goal at the other end. This game shouldn’t still be 0-0!
Arter is booked for a late tackle on Carrick. Ibrahimovic mistimes his attempt after Martial’s cross, and United waste another golden chance.
The game has settled down slightly, United looking cool and collected throwing the ball around. Early indications show that it’s warming up to be an extremely tasty fixture. We’ve had some serious end-to-end action already, but amazingly no goals.
Martial is unlocking the Bournemouth defence time and time again down that wing, two of his last runs resulting in corners.
GOAL! Manchester United 1 – 0 Bournemouth
Long overdue here at Old Trafford, and it’s Rojo with his first Premier League goal for United. A corner was half-cleared, but landed at the feet of Valencia, who dragged his shot well off target but Rojo managed to find the back of the net.
We’ve had attacks at both ends, but United are well on top. The Bournemouth defence are far too open for their own good, and Howe’s side can count themselves lucky they’re just one goal down.
Referee Kevin Friend has dished out another yellow card, and this time to Bournemouth’s Andrew Surman. It was a tough challenge on Shaw, but he came out with the ball. Meanwhile, Arter must be careful. Already on a yellow, he’s given a quiet warning.
PENALTY for Bournemouth!
Jones gives it away. It’s an easy decision for Friend. Pugh turned in the box, and the United defender ran him over. Good chance for the Cherries before half-time.
GOAL! Manchester United 1 – 1 Bournemouth
Former United player Josh King smashes an unsaveable penalty into top-left corner. Superb penalty to level play.
Rooney comes close at the other end, his effort well saved by Boruc. Ibrahimovic was booked earlier for complaining about the penalty decision. He could be seeing red here minutes later.
Friend is having a good chat with Ibra and Rooney, but decides not to take action to boos from the furious Bournemouth supporters. The incident in question sees Ibrahimovic and Mings end with Mings on the floor holding his face.
RED CARD! Andrew Surman
In the middle of the Ibrahimovic and Mings drama, Surman was given a second yellow for arguing with the ref. There was also a stamping incident in the midst of it all. Mings stood on Ibrahimovic’s head after the latter elbowed him.
HALF TIME: Manchester United 1 – 1 Bournemouth
Crazy end to the half here in Old Trafford, we’re still not entirely sure what just happened. The first set of 45 has seen it all – two goals, a penalty, a red card, some yellows, some outstanding football and plenty of drama.
Take a few minutes to relax yourself, and prepare for the second installment.
We’re back underway. 10-man Bournemouth make a half-time change, bringing on Dan Gosling for Pugh. Their assistant manager has also been sent off. Impossible to keep up.
United have started the brighter of the sides. Martial’s excellent cross is headed over the bar by Cook, denying Rooney a simple chance. While earlier, Mings pulled off a crunching challenge on Ibrahimovic, aggressively but fairly.
Mata dinks a ball into the box towards Ibrahimovic. Good defending from Daniels as he gets a flick on the ball to send it over the crossbar. Rooney also comes close. It’s all Mourinho’s men on the attack, with another goal looking likely.
Great effort from Pogba from distance, a curling shot saved nicely by Boruc and sent out for another corner. The Bournemouth defence are under serious pressure.
Carrick has been booked for clearly pulling King back by the waist, while Bournemouth have settled more into the second half. United are playing some nice football and continue to threaten on the attack.
United are awarded a 25-yard free-kick as Pogba is fouled by Gosling. Slightly to the left of centre, Ibra’s poor effort is deflected off the wall for a corner.
United look frustrated with the Cherries’ defence staying tighter. Fellaini, Rashford and Lingard are set for action off the bench.
Shaw, Carrick and Rooney make way for Mourinho’s triple substitutes as United head in search of an all-important winner.
PENALTY for United!
Pogba’s volleyed cross hits the outstretched arm of Smith.
SAVE! Manchester United 1 – 1 Bournemouth
Ibrahimovic’s effort is saved. It was’t a bad penalty, but rather a fantastic save. Boruc gets down brilliantly to deny United from taking the lead.
Rashford had a shot from 20-yards but it deflected just wide. Harry Arter looked to be in a bad way, stretched out on the pitch after clashing with Pogba. Fortunately he’s back on his feet. Mings has hit the deck also, holding his thigh.
Pogba is awarded a free-kick as he’s fouled by Arter. His strike sails over the bar. Meanwhile, the injured Mings hobbles off and is replaced by debutant Baily Cargill.
Just to clarify from earlier, it was Mings who actually stamped on Ibrahimovic first. And then the elbow happened. We were caught up in the action and got slightly confused with the sequence of events.
United have been much poorer in the last few minutes, wasting chances and looking much more unfocused. That said, 10-man Bournemouth have been much better in defence.
Mata is relaxing his teammates and taking control in the middle. Martial’s cross seems to connect with Smith’s arm just inside the area, but this time there’s no penalty. 4 minutes plus stoppage time, and all to play for here at Old Trafford.
A few things we missed in the past few minutes — Rashford sees yellow for barging into Smith, while Gradel replaces King in the 87th minute.
5 additional minutes have been announced
It’s crunch time.
Mata tries to find Ibrahimovic at the back post but he can’t stretch far enough and the ball rolls out for a goal kick. It’s been one of those days.
Big chance for Pogba in the area but nothing comes off it. He probably should have scored but completely mishit a volley. That could have been the one.
At the other end, Arter chases the ball down and nearly breaks away but Valencia does enough to keep him out. There’s messing in the United box, Pogba missing another chance to snatch all three points.
FULL TIME: Manchester United 1 – 1 Bournemouth
And that’s a wrap to one of the craziest games of football you’ll see for quite some time. Bournemouth head home with a huge point, while the two that United didn’t get may prove costly in the coming weeks.
That game had absolutely everything. From the height of drama to strange refereeing decisions, to both scored and saved penalties and a pulsating opening 20 minutes, it’s a wonder it ended in a draw.
United are still in sixth place, while Bournemouth showed huge character, especially with a man down in the second half to renew hope for their relegation battle.
That’s all from us. Thanks for reading.
Join us later for more Premier League action — we’re going live for the big Liverpool and Arsenal clash.
