Manchester United and Bournemouth played a breathtaking clash, which ended in the last match of the 16th round of the Premier League, writes sportal.bg.
The two teams did not leave any spectators of this incredible clash rest, exchanging the lead several times in the match. As many as eight goal scorers wrote their names on the scoreboard. The hosts started brightly and managed to take the lead through Amad Diallo (13’) and making several more serious misses in the first half hour of play. Gradually, the visitors managed to level the game and came to an equalizer through Antoine Semenyo (40).
However, the “Red Devils” withdrew with the lead after a goal by Casemiro (45’) with a header in added time. “The Cherries” made an extraordinary turnaround within just six minutes at the beginning of the second half, when Evanilsson (46’) and Marcus Tavernier were on target. In turn, “Stretford End” exploded after another turnaround, this time thanks to goals from Bruno Fernandes (77’) and Mateus Cunha (79’). However, this enthusiasm for the hosts was smothered by Elie Krupi (84).
The first good situation of the match came after just two minutes, when the hosts made an excellent quick attack. Bruno Fernandes found Amad Diallo in an empty space in an excellent way, the Ivorian tried to find Brian Mbemo in the penalty area, but he failed to shoot. Instead, the home captain took a shot, which was blocked. Just a minute later, Tyler Adams from the guests got injured and had to leave the field. This situation was followed by the execution of a corner kick to Dzhordje Petrovic, but none of the “Red Devils” were able to intercept Amad's sharp cross. In the 8th minute, Mbemo's cross from the left flank was intercepted in an excellent way by Mason Mount, but Dzhordje Petrovic managed to save. A minute later, the home team had another good chance, but a shot from a player in red was blocked.
Bournemouth's first better chance came in the 10th minute, when they managed to enter the penalty area and reach a corner. It was immediately followed by a second corner kick after a clearance from Casemiro. Manchester United's pressure paid off in the 13th minute, when another good cross from Dalot was intercepted by Mateus Cunha. The Brazilian's shot successively met the head of a defender and goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic, but from only about two meters in front of the goal line, Amad Diallo managed to convert into an empty net.
In the 20th minute, Mateus Cunha also found himself in a good position and shot dangerously, but failed to hit the frame of the goal. In the following minutes, the situation on the pitch remained the same, and the hosts managed to take the ball high up the pitch several times, after which several, but not sufficiently high-quality shots followed. In the 29th minute, the “cherries” managed to keep the ball a little longer in the opponent’s half and after a series of passes, an excellent cross from the flank was intercepted by Marcus Tavernier, but Sene Lamens managed to box it in.
In the 34th minute, the hosts were again close to a second goal after an extremely high-quality breakthrough by Amad Diallo, but the Ivorian’s shot attempt was blocked by a defender. Shortly after, Cunha found Mbemo in the penalty area, but the Cameroonian’s shot went over the goal.
In the 40th minute, Luke Shaw made a very serious mistake in his attempt to take the ball out and lost the ball on the sideline. The ball was immediately sent into empty space to Antoine Semenyo, who advanced and easily converted for 1:1.
Just seconds after the goal, the goal scorer himself fell heavily to the ground after trying to reach a high ball and colliding with Diogo Dalot. The winger almost grabbed the Portuguese defender by the neck and could even have been sent off, but instead both players got away with a yellow card each. The hosts picked up the pace again and came up with two consecutive crosses from static positions, intercepted by Casemiro. It was the Brazilian who managed to score with a header in the second situation after a not very convincing intervention by Džordje Petrovic for 2:1.
Bournemouth managed to equalize again just 38 seconds into the second half. The visitors won the ball in midfield, then a pass between the central defenders was taken by Evanilsson, who with his left foot finished Lammens to make it 2:2.
In the 48th minute, Bruno Fernandes lost his way in midfield, and Marcus Tavernier advanced, but was brought down outside the penalty area by Casemiro. It was Tavernier who took the free kick and with his left foot he beautifully finished over the wall to finish Lammens for the third time.
In the following minutes, the Manchester United players seemed to lose heart, and the visitors began to play more and more confidently in the opponent's half. They sent the ball into the penalty area several times, causing serious chaos. After an hour of play, Casemiro was replaced by Kobe Meino. In the 65th minute, Ruben Amorim's players carried out a good attack, which ended with a not bad cross from Mason Mount, but there was no teammate in front of the goal line to take advantage. Shortly after, Cunha also managed to enter the rectangle in front of Petrovic and shoot, and the goalkeeper again intervened rather hesitantly.
The Portuguese coach of the “Red Devils” put Lisandro Martinez and Benjamin Sesko, who was returning from injury, into the game in the 68th minute. Seconds later, Cunha's shot attempt deflected into a defender and proved to be quite convenient for the Cameroonian striker of the home team, but he missed by a few meters. Somewhere at that moment, Amorim seemed to change the system of his team and switched to a four-man defense.
A quarter of an hour before the end, Matheus Cunha again fired a very strong shot, but the goalkeeper of the "cherries" managed to do it. Chaos followed and Bruno Fernandes tried to deflect, but the ball met the hand of a defender. The home team captain took the foul from a good position and scored extremely beautifully in the upper left corner of Petrovic for 3:3.
What was happening on the field did not give the fans even a moment of peace. The hosts made an extremely quick attack after a throw-in, Benjamin Sheshko demonstrated his speed, his pass was intercepted by a Bournemouth defender, but only to hand it over extremely comfortably to Mateus Cunha, who converted for 4:3. Thus, the hosts made a complete turnaround in just two minutes.
However, the incredible spectacle seemed to not stop. In the 84th minute, Andoni Iraola's players managed to equalize again. Amad Diallo, in his attempt to clear the ball from Tavernier's feet, sent it to the feet of Elie Krupi, who had appeared shortly before, who from almost the same position as Evanilsson had no problems converting for 4:4.
In the last minutes of the match and in the added time, contrary to expectations, the action actually took place mainly in Manchester United's half, and Bournemouth was very close to taking all three points, but three magnificent interventions by Senne Lamens, two of which after extremely clean situations in front of David Brooks, prevented this, and the two teams shared the points in this great clash.