Ten man United hold out for hard-fought 2-2 draw with Bournemouth on frantic Friday night

Manchester United travelled to the south coast to take on AFC Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium. First half Djordje Petrovic was called into action early in the opening minutes when he parried away Amad’s shot. Casemiro was almost able to turn in the rebound, but the ball just evaded him. Marcus Tavernier raced up the other end and dragged his shot wide of Senne Lammens’ post. After 11 minutes, some nice build-up play by the visitors resulted in Matheus Cunha unleashing a shot from just outside the box, but it was well stopped. United kept up their attacking threat and more combination play between Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes resulted in a shot from the Portuguese midfielder, but it was easily stopped by the keeper. Fernandes came close again when Amad combined with Diogo Dalot, who played the ball across goal, but his shot was blocked by the Cherries’ defence and went out for a corner. Bournemouth woke up after 22 minutes and their exciting youngster Rayan fired a fierce effort from range that Lammens was equal to and turned around the post. The hosts kept up the pressure and crossed the ball into the box, but Evanilson turned the ball wide. United were next to attack in an entertaining start, when Cunha crossed for Amad, but his effort was brilliantly blocked by the Cherries’ defence. The visitors thought they had taken the lead, but Petrovic made a stunning goal-line stop from Fernandes. Nice build-up play again led to Dalot floating a lovely ball to the back post that Fernandes did well to keep down, but United were denied again. Adrien Truffert responded with a rasping effort, but once again Lammens got behind it well. Tavernier was next to test the Belgian, but his long-range free kick was expertly dealt with. The half-time whistle blew and both sides went in all square at 0-0. Second half The second half started like the first with Cunha and Fernandes combining well to play in Mbeumo but his cross went right into the hands of the keeper. The hosts raced up the other end and Ryan Christie’s shot from distance flew over the bar. Alex Jimenez was next to try his luck but his shot from outside the box went harmlessly wide after 55 minutes. Just before the hour mark, brilliant individual work by Cunha resulted in him run at the defence and as he glided into the box, he was pulled back by the Bournemouth defence and a penalty was awarded. United’s captain put his hand up as he always does and coolly slotted his side into the lead. The Red Devils were furious when they felt Amad was brought down in the box but the Cherries raced up the other end and Christie slid in a great equaliser for a delighted home crowd. In a crazy few minutes, United retook the lead from a corner from Fernandes and James Hill headed into his own net under immense pressure from Maguire. Alex Scott responded with a stunning, curling effort but his shot crashed off the crossbar and luckily hit Lammens and the ball trickled out for a corner. United shot themselves in the foot when Maguire brought down Evanilson in the box after 80 minutes and to make matters worse, he was sent off as the last man. Junior Kroupi stepped up and made no mistake firing the ball into the bottom corner. 2-2. United now had at least 10 minutes to defend with 10 men, if not considerably more with added time. The clock ticked past 90 minutes but much to the disappointment of United fans, there were nine minutes added on. United held firm for 10 minutes in what could be a vital point in their quest for Champions League football. Featured image Warren Little via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.