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Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola praised four Manchester United players as the two sides played out a dramatic 4-4 draw on Monday evening.
Disappointing draw for United
A win against Bournemouth would have taken United up to fifth in the Premier League, but instead they continued to bungle multiple missed chances as they were held to a frustrating draw.
United dominated on their way to a 2-1 half-time lead thanks to headers from Amad and Casemiro, but the hosts were their own worst enemies as Evanilson and Marcus Tavernier struck in quick succession just after the restart to give the Cherries the advantage.
However, United recovered to restore parity through captain Bruno Fernandes. The Portuguese playmaker fired a beautiful free kick into the top corner to make it 3-3.
Matheus Cunha thought he had won the game for United when he clinically finished off a counter-attack, but substitute Eli Junior Kroupi had the final say and made it 4-4.
After the final whistle, a frustrated Ruben Amorim expressed his displeasure with United’s defense despite some excellent attacking displays.
Iraola also gave his assessment of the match, naming Amad, Bruno Fernandes, Bryan Mbeumo and Senne Lammens as the players who made the biggest difference for the Red Devils.
Iraola’s comments
said the Spaniard [as quoted by Manchester World]”Really difficult to explain. There were moments when you wanted the game to end to get one point, but we are very close to a goal and maybe it is better that it ends, a lot of up and down.”
“United were much better in the first twenty minutes until we made a substitution. We finished strong at 1-1 in the first half and conceded this second goal. Fortunately, apart from the first twenty minutes when they started better.”
“They punished us a lot, especially with Amad and Mbeumo. Alex Jimenez played very well and defended almost like a full-back with Amad, but all the games were good for us.”
“We have scored four, conceded four, and the attacking players have scored. It is good for confidence; we have to look at the goals conceded. I think the second one is very sloppy from a corner, the header is too soft and I complain about the third. It is never a handball, but Bruno scores an incredible goal.”
Lammens denied Tavernier in the first half and also made two excellent saves in the latter stages of proceedings to salvage a point for United.
Iraola said of the United goalkeeper: “We struggled in the first 15-20 minutes. We made some adjustments but we lost 1-0. From then on I was quite happy with how the game was. The last two were huge chances, great saves from Lammens. We get a point. We can use a lot of good things from today but things need to be corrected.”
The Bournemouth coach explained that his side suffered from the flexibility of Amorim’s system and his tactical adjustments.
He noted”I think it’s the same system they always play, but they adapt depending on who you let them mark. Ultimately it’s a very flexible system. Depending on the players, the outside players, depending on if you mark them with a full-back, they go lower, and with a winger they go higher.”
“Also with the positions in the middle, the six and eight, Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes and even us, we were changing, it’s two against two, but it’s not two against two.”
“Until we’re a good fit, I think we’ll suffer in the first fifteen to twenty minutes, something like this, and then when we get Alex [Scott] we felt much more solid there without the ball. And when you feel solid, you normally attack better.”
United are next in action on Sunday when they go to Aston Villa.
Feature image Shaun Botterill via Getty Images
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