Bournemouth and Manchester United shared the spoils in an entertaining 2-2 draw at the Vitality Stadium, as the visitors’ dismal run of form in the Premier League (PL) extended to just one win in seven matches (D3, L3).
Having dropped seven points from winning positions in their last three PL outings, United knew a positive response was needed as they made the long trip to the south coast. It was Andoni Iraola’s side, however, who dominated the opening quarter-hour, and their early pressure was rewarded when Dominic Solanke pounced on a stumble from Willy Kambwala to sweep a brilliant finish into the bottom corner.
Armed with all the momentum, the Cherries came close to doubling their lead as Milos Kerkez saw a close-range effort thwarted by André Onana and Luis Sinisterra fired a low strike narrowly wide of the far post.
Those missed opportunities proved to be costly for Bournemouth, with United finding an equaliser against the run of play through captain Bruno Fernandes, who pounced on a loose ball in the box to rifle a strike into the roof of the net.
Undeterred, the hosts continued to create chances at will and soon restored their advantage when Justin Kluivert cut inside and finished confidently beyond Onana at his near post. The end-to-end nature of the contest showed no signs of slowing down, with Kerkez and Fernandes both hitting the woodwork before the interval.
The early stages of the second half followed a similar pattern to the first, with Kluivert and Solanke both directing half-chances wide of the target for the hosts. Despite being on the back foot, United were given a golden opportunity to level the scores once again when Adam Smith was harshly penalised for handball in the box, allowing Fernandes to step up to the spot and send Neto the wrong way for his second of the evening.
The match remained tantalisingly poised heading into the final 20 minutes, but despite the best efforts of both sides and a late overturned penalty for the hosts, a winning goal ultimately proved elusive.
The result extends the Cherries’ unbeaten PL run on home soil to five matches (W3, D2), while Erik ten Hag’s side remain 10 points adrift of the Champions League spots with just six games left to play.
