Zlatan Ibrahimovic had a penalty saved as Manchester United were held 1-1 by Bournemouth, missing the opportunity to move ahead of Liverpool and into fifth in a feisty game at Old Trafford.
United fashioned the game's first chance in the opening two minutes when Antonio Valencia's floated cross was headed over by Wayne Rooney.
Within moments, Josh King barged Phil Jones off the ball at the other end -- but when referee Kevin Friend waved play on, the Bournemouth man failed to find a colleague.
It was a breathless start, and after five minutes Paul Pogba raced onto a long pass from Luke Shaw and saw his low effort well saved by Artur Boruc.
As United came forward again, in-form Ibrahimovic latched on to a low Rooney pass but a heavy touch meant he was unable to get a shot in.
The visitors threatened when Benik Afobe raced into the area only to lose his footing at the crucial moment -- and then Ibrahimovic was in the thick of it again when a low cross from Anthony Martial cannoned off his knee and away to safety right in front of goal.
Boruc thwarted United again after 20 minutes when he blocked Martial's strike after a fine Carrick through ball -- but Jose Mourinho's side were not to be denied for much longer.
They made the breakthrough after 23 minutes when Valencia's low strike was stabbed in by Marcos Rojo to secure a deserved lead.
Bournemouth's Andrew Surman clattered in on Luke Shaw to pick up a yellow card as the game hit a brief lull -- but on 38 minutes his side were level when Phil Jones fouled Marc Pugh to concede a penalty that was slammed home by King.
Boruc was back in action again as he tipped away an angled Ibrahimovic drive, and within seconds he repelled a Rooney half-volley.
But an exciting first half ended in chaos when Tyrone Mings slid in on Rooney and then stamped on Ibrahimovic, who elbowed the defender in the face at a corner seconds later.
Both avoided red cards from referee Friend, but instead a second yellow card was shown to Surman -- who had already been booked -- for what appeared to be a shove.
Friend belatedly realised that Surman had already been booked and showed him a red card, but there was no further punishment for either Ibrahimovic -- already in the book for dissent after the penalty award -- or Mings.
United attempted to press home their one-man advantage at the start of the second half, with Rooney seeing an effort deflected over and Martial delivering some dangerous low crosses.
Pogba came close to restoring United's lead after 56 minutes when his 25-yarder was stopped by Boruc, and when the France international was fouled around 25 yards out in the 64th minute, Ibrahimovic clattered a free kick into the wall.
With 70 minutes gone, Jose Mourinho had seen enough of things as they were and introduced Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford and Marouane Fellaini for Rooney, Carrick and Shaw.
Within a minute of the changes, United were awarded a penalty when Adam Smith was adjudged to have handled Pogba's attempt to turn a deep cross back into the danger area -- but Boruc made a fine low save to keep out Ibrahimovic's effort.
Rashford fired wide after an apparent foul by Pogba on Harry Arter, with the Bournemouth player requiring treatment before he was able to continue.
Pogba blazed a free kick well over the top after being fouled by Arter as time ticked towards the final 10 minutes of a game in which Bournemouth's defensive organisation had drastically improved.
Rashford was booked for a foul on Arter as United's frustrations began to show, and the Stretford End voiced its own irritation when a deep Pogba cross flew straight into the gloves of the excellent Boruc.
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe made a late change, taking off scorer King and bringing on winger Max Gradel as he attempted to give his side an outlet in the closing moments.
Pogba mishit one last chance from inside the penalty area and then saw the keeper snatch the ball off his toes as Bournemouth held on for what could be a crucial point.
Credit: ESPN
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com