Goals from Casemiro, Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford ensured a comfortable win for Manchester United at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
The win sees the Red Devils move to within just one point of Manchester City in the Premier League following a run of three wins on the bounce.
It was all Man Utd in the opening 20 minutes of the game, with the home side pinning Bournemouth back in their defensive third. For all their good possession however, the Red Devils were largely unable to find a way through Bournemouth’s two banks of… well, one bank of 10.
The breakthrough would eventually come though in the 23rd minute through a set piece. Christian Eriksen curled a brilliant delivery into the near post area and straight into the path of Casemiro who subsequently side-footed a volley straight into the top left corner of the net. It was a stunning goal and a bloody well deserved one.
It was so nearly 2-0 ten minutes later when Bruno Fernandes whipped a cross into the back post area from the left flank. Just as Marcus Rashford was about to volley goalwards from three-yards out however, Bournemouth captain Lloyd Kelly stuck a foot out to clear.
At the start of the second half the Red Devils were finally able to double their lead. The goal would come courtesy of a rather unlikely source in Luke Shaw, who bagged just his fourth for the club after a brilliant team move culminated in Alejandro Garnacho drilling the ball into the full-back’s path in the penalty area and Shaw finishing with aplomb.
Anthony Martial would come close to making it three a few minutes later, with the forward heading a glorious cross from Casemiro just wide of the post.
At 2-0 down, Bournemouth finally started to show some signs of life on the hour mark as Jaidon Anthony forced David de Gea into a smart save from the left of the penalty area.
United would come close to making it 3-0 again in the 78th minute when the lively Garnacho cut in from the right and curled an effort off the foot of the post.
The Red Devils finally got their third in the 86th minutes thanks to the in-form Rashford. Shaw again was key for the goal as his ball over the top of the Cherries defence was latched onto by Fernandes, who was able to square to Rashford for an easy tap-in.
GK – David de Gea – 7/10 – He made a few decent saves throughout.
RB – Aaron Wan-Bissaka – 6/10 – Becoming a much bigger asset in the final third than he was previously.
CB – Victor Lindelof – 5/10 – He didn’t have a whole lot to do.
CB – Harry Maguire – 5/10 – Had a pretty easy time of it against Solanke.
LB – Luke Shaw – 8/10 – Surprisingly got a goal, and a great one at that. This is the best version of Shaw we’ve ever seen.
CM – Casemiro – 8/10 – Another game, another brilliant performance. This time he capped it off with a fantastic goal.
CM – Christian Eriksen – 7/10 – His inch perfect set piece delivery led to the opener.
RW – Bruno Fernandes – 7/10 – Looks right back to his best in recent weeks. A class act.
AM – Donny van de Beek – 5/10 – Worked hard but was subbed off with an injury just before half-time.
LW – Marcus Rashford – 8/10 – Has really struck up a partnership with Shaw on the left flank and scored another goal.
ST – Anthony Martial – 6/10 – Linked up play well and came so close to scoring.
SUB – Alejandro Garnacho – 7/10 – Came off the bench and set up a goal. Can’t ask for much more than that.
Substitutes
Diogo Dalot – 6/10 – Lively on his return.
Fred – N/A.
Lisandro Martinez – N/A.
GK – Mark Travers – 4/10 – The Irishman could do nothing about the goals.
RB – Adam Smith – 3/10 – Struggled up against Shaw and Rashford.
CB – Marcos Senesi – 3/10 – Martial’s movement cause the Argentine a headache or two.
CB – Lloyd Kelly – 5/10 – Brilliant clearance inside his own six yard box prevented a certain goal on the half-hour mark.
LB – Chris Mepham – 3/10 – Like his full-back partner, just really struggled to deal with the overlaps on his flank.
CM – Lewis Cook – 3/10 – He was up against Eriksen and Casemiro. It was difficult, obviously.
CM – Jefferson Lerma – 4/10 – Put in the hard yards but ultimately to no avail.
CM – Philip Billing – 3/10 – Couldn’t lay a glove on Casemiro all night. Most can’t though.
RW – Ryan Christie – N/A – Honestly didn’t know he was on until the 75th minute…when he was subbed off.
ST – Dominic Solanke – 2/10 – He did nothing of note.
LW – Jaidon Anthony – 6/10 – By far Bournemouth’s most lively attacker.
Substitutes
Jack Stacey – 4/10.
Kieffer Moore – N/A.
Siriki Dembele – N/A.
Joe Rothwell – N/A.
Player of the match – Luke Shaw
Credit: 90min.com
