Manchester United and Bournemouth drew 4-4 in an epic match full of ‘rehearsed’ movements that led to a few of the goals.
It was a thrilling and exciting evening at Old Trafford as the Red Devils hosted the Cherries and both teams served us, possibly, the game of the season so far.
Amad Diallo gave Man United the lead in the 13th minute following a great start by the home side. Antoine Semenyo made it 1-1 in the 40th minute very much against the run of play, but Casemiro restored the lead seconds before half-time.
Andoni Iraola’s men needed just six minutes to turn the game on its head after the break, thanks to Evanilson and Marcus Tavernier goals. And as quickly as United gave away the lead, they got it back between the 77th and 79th minute – courtesy of Bruno Fernandes and Matheus Cunha.
It didn’t take long for Junior Kroupi to get the Cherries level once again, though, as he made it 4-4 in the 84th minute.
What were the common themes throughout Man United 4-4 Bournemouth?
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Manchester United’s dominant first half
This is not hyperbole: Manchester United might have played the most dominant 45 minutes of football of any team in the Premier League this season.
Ruben Amorim’s men produced 17 shots – 15 of them from inside the box – and 30 touches in the penalty area. All of those tallies are Premier League records by a single side in a first half this season.
United showed a lot of verticality from the jump, managing to connect their front-three in rhythm heading towards the goal, also with Bruno and Casemiro joining the attack.
Amorim put a lot of bodies forward and every single one of them committed to trying their hardest to recover possession in Bournemouth’s half whenever they lost it. They showed great work rate and effort without the ball.
They didn’t create that many clear-cut goalscoring opportunities, but had a lot of great half-chances aside from Diallo’s easy tap-in header.
This aggressive approach even led to Cunha’s goal later in the second half. Every time they won the ball back, it felt like they had more numbers than Bournemouth – even in the final third.
How Ruben Amorim used his wing-backs to break down Bournemouth
Much of their attacking volume came down to the wing-backs participation. Both Diallo and Diogo Dalot provided the width and bombed forward at the same time to help the team suffocate Bournemouth in their own half.
Many of United’s good chances in the first half happened precisely because of their movements. Diallo got the best out of Adrien Truffert two times inside the box and almost scored in both. And it was Dalot’s cross after running at Alex Jimenez that led to the opener. The opposing wing-back entered the box like a striker and headed it home.
And even if it wasn’t the 23-year-old Ivorian, the Red Devils had four men inside the box against four Bournemouth defenders. Amorim made it a priority to send bodies into the final third.
Diallo and Dalot’s movements also enabled the team to switch play from one side to the other quite often. The former was exceptional and the latter not so much – but both played very important roles in United’s attacking intentions.
Antoine Semenyo’s varying roles under Andoni Iraola
Andoni Iraola set Bournemouth up in a 4-2-3-1 and everyone expected right-back Jimenez to play as a right-midfielder with Semenyo in his usual left-midfielder role. However, both started the game playing on the opposite sides.
The Spanish manager quickly undid it just a few minutes into the game, which suggests it was just a ‘wrinkle’ to try and throw Ruben Amorim off. But, as it turns out, it would eventually be the adjustment that led to the Cherries coming back into the game.
It started when they were looking for long balls into Jimenez to capitalise on Dalot’s poor defensive positioning that left a lot of space behind him. Iraola noticed how there could be a pathway to score there and sent Semenyo back to the right wing.
The Ghanaian forward equalised after running in that exact spot – though it did come after a Luke Shaw mistake. But Dalot had already gone forward and was nowhere to be seen as his teammates tracked back to try and stop Semenyo from scoring.
And it’s always fun to see a skillful and tricky winger with good finishing and also the physical build to act as a hub for long balls. Bournemouth tried to pin United’s defence back while the defenders and midfielders had the ball near their box.
It led to a huge gap between the two blocks so Semenyo’s aerial prowess became the main way for the Cherries to establish themselves in the attacking half, as per usual.
How Bournemouth created space in Manchester United’s defence
Another path to scoring that Bournemouth found throughout the game was in the central corridor.
The Cherries didn’t show much in the first half, but still managed to access dangerous zones in the heart of Man United’s defence.
It started with Evanilson dropping deep and taking Luke Shaw with him, which opened up space between Ayden Heaven and Diogo Dalot, who had tucked inside to cover. Justin Kluivert was free to turn and shoot, but couldn’t control the ball.
Still, Iraola forced variations of this play a few more times after the break – all with success. Just seconds into the second half, Evanilson this time attacked the space between Heaven and Leny Yoro. He took the touch with his right foot and fired with the left to end a near four-month and 10-game goal drought.
And that wasn’t the last that we saw of it. Ruben Amorim had such an emphasis on pressing high and sending players forward that Bournemouth managed to counter-attack and match their forwards to the number of United’s defenders.
Another fast break led to Tavernier beautifully carrying the ball forwards down the middle. It took a Casemiro foul on the edge of the box to stop him – and not even that. Tavernier took the free-kick himself and all of a sudden it was already 2-1 in favour of the visitors.
And it was with yet another through ball in that same gap that Kroupi made it 4-4 later in the second half. This time, the Red Devils were already set up in a 4-4-2 rather than their usual 3-4-2-1 and it was between Heaven and Lisandro Martinez.
The natural lack of protection of a back-four instead of the back-five made it easier for Bournemouth to access that area.