Cherries leave sour taste with late draw

Manchester United blew the lead three times to miss out on moving up to fifth in the Premier League, as Bournemouth would not be beaten in a thrilling 4-4 draw at Old Trafford.

United has lost just once in its last 10 games, but Ruben Amorim will be frustrated that more points at home were frittered away, despite arguably the best attacking display of his reign.

Amad Diallo and Casemiro gave the host a halftime lead either side of Antoine Semenyo's equalizer.

Straight after the break, two Bournemouth goals in seven minutes from Evanilson and Marcus Tavernier turned the game on its head.

The Red Devils roared back through a brilliant Bruno Fernandes freekick and Matheus Cunha's second goal for the club.

However, after failing to beat 10-man Everton and struggling West Ham at home in recent weeks, United let another two points slip away.

Eli Junior Kroupi's fine finish in the 84th minute secured a point for the Cherries, who should have snatched victory in stoppage time, but David Brooks was twice denied by United's Belgian stopper Senne Lammens.

"It was a fun game for everyone at home," Amorim said. "If you look at the game, you can think we lost the two points in the second half. I think we lost the two points in the first half. I think we should have more goals, we should have a different result at halftime.

"It was similar to (last month's 2-2 draw with) Nottingham, where we conceded two goals really quickly, but we managed to take back the advantage, then we needed to close the game out.

"When you win away you should win at home. The performance today was different from the last two at home. The result is the same, it is frustrating, but the performance is different."

Bournemouth's winless run stretches to seven games, but a point edges it up to 13th.

United moves ahead of Liverpool on goal difference into sixth.

'Difficult to explain'

Despite the disappointment, Amorim will be heartened by the sight of his expensively assembled forward line beginning to come good.

The home side's bright start was rewarded on 13 minutes when Diallo nodded into an empty net, after Djordje Petrovic could only get a hand to Cunha's header.

Going forward, United looked as good as it has all season.

But at the back, it badly missed the presence and experience of the injured Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt.

When Bournemouth leveled the game, it was against the run of play.

Luke Shaw was easily barged off the ball, allowing Semenyo to gallop into the box and fire low and hard across Lammens for his first goal since Oct 3.

United restored its lead in the five minutes of added time at the end of the first half, thanks in large part to Petrovic.

Casemiro headed Fernandes' corner goalward, and the former Chelsea keeper should have easily collected the Brazilian's header.

But, all United's good first half work was undone within seven minutes of the restart.

Evanilson pounced on Tavernier's pass to slot his first goal since August into the far corner after just 37 seconds.

Tavernier then drilled a freekick from the edge of the area past the despairing dive of Lammens.

Once United restored its composure, chances began to appear again for Amorim's men.

Bryan Mbeumo blasted one over from point-blank range, before Petrovic unconvincingly parried away Cunha's powerful effort.

Not since May 1984 has United lost a league game at Old Trafford that it was leading at halftime.

It at least continued that run as Fernandes' brilliant freekick found the top corner, before Cunha swept home when Adam Smith failed to clear Benjamin Sesko's cross.

Amorim looked exasperated on the touchline even as his side led 4-3.

The Portuguese manager's mood was soured even more six minutes from time, when Kroupi swept in to snatch a point for Bournemouth and deny Amorim a crucial victory on a madcap Monday in Manchester.

"It's very difficult to explain because so much happened," said Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola.

"I suppose it was entertaining for everyone. Two teams that attacked much better than we defended."

United next faces third-placed Aston Villa on Dec 22.

AFP