Bruno Fernandes scored twice to rescue an unconvincing 2-2 draw for Manchester United at Bournemouth, who fell to seventh in the Premier League standings on Saturday.
The Portuguese came to the rescue after Bournemouth deservedly took the lead with goals from Dominic Solanke and Justin Kluivert, and although the visitors pushed for a winner, it would have been undeserved.
Bournemouth created a number of early chances and led through Solanke’s clinical finish before Fernandes equalized against the run of play in the 31st minute.
Kluivert took advantage of poorer defending to regain Bournemouth’s lead soon after, but Fernandes took a second-half penalty after a handball from Adam Smith to give his team a point.
Here, Mail Sport’s Kieran Gill has rated the players.
Bruno Fernandes put in a captain’s performance to save a point for Manchester United
Bournemouth (4-2-3-1)
Net – 6
There was no chance of stopping Fernandes’ shot before he went in the wrong direction when taking his penalty. Aside from those opportunities, the Bournemouth goalkeeper was not tested enough.
Adam Smith – 6
He started on the left but moved to the right after Sinisterra’s injury forced a reshuffle and he conceded a penalty when the ball bounced off his arm to make it 2-2. Hard? Probably.
Illia Zabarnyi – 6
Ball moved away from him to give Fernandes an opportunity he simply couldn’t miss. Otherwise, he paid a lot of attention to Hojlund, who struggled to beat him.
Marcos Senesi – 6.5
Defensively solid and two assists for his problems too. The first after his shot left Solanke inside the goal. The second after finding Kluivert unmarked.
Milos Kerkez – 6
First, he threw the ball to Onana. Then he headed against the crossbar. Then he launched another headbutt that begged to be buried. You simply had to score.
Justin Kluivert scored a goal and André Onana denied him a second thanks to a brilliant save.
Lewis Cook – 6
He gave Fernandes the odd kick and was a general nuisance in midfield, showing much more energy than players like Casemiro in midfield.
Ryan Christie – 6.5
Booked for diving late (bad) and thought he had won a penalty in stoppage time, only for VAR to say Kambwala’s foul was outside the area.
Luis Sinisterra – 6.5
So close to finding the far corner after attacking Dalot, who had problems with him in those one on ones. Unfortunately, that injury meant he needed to be replaced before half-time.
Justin Kluivert – 7
United practically laid out a welcome mat for him to make it 2-1 when he was left completely unmarked, and he would have scored a second if it weren’t for Onana.
Striker Dominic Solanke capped an impressive performance by scoring the first goal.
Dango Ouattara – 6.5
He took advantage of a beautiful pass from Solanke but left with his head in his hands when he couldn’t find the far corner. He connected very well with his striker as United were tested.
Dominic Solanke – 7.5
There are so many that it would be surprising if Bournemouth did not test him this summer, with a good finish to open the scoring after Kambwala’s slip.
SUBS
Lloyd Kelly (for Sinisterra, 39) – 6
Romain Faivre (by Ouattara, 70) – 6
Max Aarons (by Smith, 70) – 6
Enes Unal (by Kluivert, 76) – N/A
UNUSED SUBS
Mark Travers, Alex Scott, James Hill, Philip Billing, Micheal Dacosta González
MANAGER
Andoni Iraola – 7
Bournemouth played as if they believed they could cause United problems, and that’s what they did, even maintaining that belief when the occasional injury occurred.
Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana could have done better in both Bournemouth goals.
Manchester United (4-2-3-1)
André Onana – 5.5
“Dubious goalkeeper,” went the old-school chant of the Bournemouth fans behind him. Could he have done better with the two goals he conceded here? I suspect so.
Diogo Dalot – 5
United’s disastrous defending left Kluivert alone to make it 2-1 against Bournemouth. You could have parked a couple of buses in the space between Dalot and Kambwala.
Willy Kambwala – 6
Clearly devastated to lose his footing when Solanke made it 1-0, but played a big part in setting up United to make it 1-1 by winning possession forcefully. I’m glad VAR came to his rescue in injury time.
Harry Maguire – 5.5
He had to intervene to prevent Solanke from scoring early on, but overall United’s defense lacked organisation. As a senior defender, he needed to show some leadership.
Aaron Wan Bissaka – 5.5
He tried to advance down the left flank, even accompanied by the occasional step, but overall it was not Wan-Bissaka’s most memorable performance.
Willy Kambwala recovered from his initial slip and was rescued by VAR in added time
Casemiro – 5
Time has caught up with the 32-year-old Brazilian and, once again, this was not the performance that suggests he is a player United can count on.
Kobbie Mainoo – 6
A hint of a dive in the penalty area in the 12th minute (be good, Kobbie) before his shot led to a penalty for United that made it 2-2 when it deflected onto Smith’s arm.
Alejandro Garnacho – 4
A poor touch that ultimately led to United losing possession before Solanke’s first goal and hooking up at half-time after a poor 45 minutes down the right.
Bruno Fernandez – 7
He made no mistake after the fortunate way the ball sat to beat Neto and score 1-1, and he gladly took the opportunity to make it 2-2 from the penalty spot.
Marco Rashford – 5
He should have scored, but his shot crashed into the side netting. Rashford looked largely lost on the left wing and was one of those who lacked the necessary intensity.
Rasmus Hojlund – 5
You could argue that he was feeding on scraps, but this was a sleepy performance from Hojlund as he barely got involved in the few opportunities that were created.
SUBS
Amad Diallo (for Garnacho, 45) – 6
Mason Mount (for Mainoo, 78) – N/A
UNUSED SUBS
Altay Bayindir, Sofyan Amrabat, Christian Eriksen, Omari Forson, Harry John Amass, Habeeb Ogunneyem, Ethan Wheatley
More pressure was placed on manager Erik ten Hag after Man United dropped points again.
MANAGER
Erik ten Hag – 5
His team came back twice, but this was well below the standards of a club trying to think big under its new owners. He knows they should worry Bournemouth a lot more than they do here.
REFEREE
Tony Harrington – 6
Under the letter of the law, it was probably a shame, but you had to feel for Smith. He relied on VAR to tell him that Bournemouth had to take a free kick in injury time, not a penalty.