7 key passes, 3 tackles, 94 touches: United’s reliable creator deserved more than a draw at Bournemouth

Manchester United fought back to scrape a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth after Rasmus Hojlund turned in an injury time equaliser.

Despite the underwhelming scoreline United had far more of the ball and, as is so often the case, created numerous openings which they could not convert into goals.

Bruno Fernandes was once again the beating heart of his side’s attack, making seven key passes and creating one big chance.

The United captain’s tally of key passes matches that of the entire Bournemouth team, showing how dominant Ruben Amorim’s men were despite their shortcomings in front of goal.

Fernandes took two shots and had fans momentarily on their feet after rippling the side netting from distance with the Red Devils trailing in the second half.

The Portuguese also had the most touches of anyone on the pitch with 94, another illustration of United’s advanced game – Amorim generally sees his defenders touching the ball the most to build from the back.

Fernandes was tidy in possession, making 53 accurate passes – bested only by Luke Shaw’s 54 – from an attempted 66 to produce a passing accuracy of 80%.

His notoriously creative game often yields substantially lower accuracy as he tries to make things happen, but today’s showing was more measured. Nevertheless, the 30-year-old still managed to lose possession 23 times, more than anyone else on either side.

From a slightly deeper role Fernandes pinged ten long balls and found his man with five of them, and when pushing up and getting wide he put nine crosses into the box, three of which were accurate.

It was a typically all-action display from the player, who cut a frustrated figure at times as his side seemed in danger of fading away into yet another Premier League defeat.

Fernandes made three tackles, equalled only by Casemiro, and came out on top in four of his seven contested duels.

This was another game in which United had plenty of opportunities to tie up three points, yet they only managed to salvage one with a late strike at the death. That point was, though, enough to lift them above Everton and into 14th place.

All stats from sofascore.

Feature image Ryan Pierse via Getty Images

Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social