Hojlund rescues point to damage Cherries’ European hopes

Hojlund rescues point to damage Cherries’ European hopes


Rasmus Hojlund scored a 96th-minute equaliser as Manchester United claimed a 1-1 draw at 10-man Bournemouth.

Bournemouth appeared on track to claim a Premier League double over United for the first time after Antoine Semenyo put the Cherries in front in the 23rd minute.

But the hosts were reduced to 10 men in the 70th minute when Evanilson was dismissed for a foul on Noussair Mazraoui.

United eventually made the extra man count, and it was Hojlund who secured a share of the spoils when he prodded home from close range, boosting Ruben Amorim’s men ahead of their Europa League semi-final with Athletic Bilbao on Thursday and dealing a significant blow to Bournemouth’s hopes of European football.

Bournemouth v Manchester United

Alejandro Garnacho fired wide with the first clear-cut chance of the game as United made a relatively bright start, but he would soon be experiencing the pain of going behind along with the after-effects of a rash Tyler Adams challenge that might have been more strictly punished.

Adams was shown a yellow card after catching Garnacho around the ankle with his studs showing. VAR checked and cleared the decision, and the goal came from the resulting free-kick as United squandered possession deep in their own half.

The ball was played back to Onana and eventually worked to Patrick Dorgu on the left-hand side, only for the Dane to be robbed of the ball by Adam Smith, whose delivery into the box was laid off by Evanilson and into the path of Semenyo to lash home with the help of a Casemiro deflection.

Garnacho twice went close to finding a response for United before the break, Kepa Arrizabalaga denying him following a long ball over the top from Noussair Mazraoui before the winger later shot wide as another promising chance went begging.

United’s threat diminished after the interval, though, and they were fortunate not to fall further behind as Semenyo curled wide three minutes into the second half and Dango Outtara clattered a free-kick against the post, with Illya Zabarnyi’s effort on rebound deflected wide.

The game looked set to turn in United’s favour when Bournemouth were reduced to 10 men as Evanilson saw red for a wild challenge on Mazraoui. Evanilson was initially shown a yellow, but the punishment was upgraded following a VAR review that sent Peter Bankes to the pitchside monitor. Replays suggested Evanilson had slipped on his way into the challenge, but Bankes still ruled the tackle worthy of a dismissal.

United predictably dominated possession thereafter, but were frustrated as substitute Mason Mount saw a close-range effort deflected wide before Chido Obi-Martin and Bruno Fernandes each went close.

Yet the pressure told in the sixth minute of nine added on, Hojlund turning in from Manuel Ugarte’s pass after Luke Shaw’s ball into box.



Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *