Key events
42 min: Kelly wins a throw-in off Dalot down by the corner flag and seems in no rush to take it. Once the ball is back in play, it’s crossed from the right and Kerkez gets between two static defenders to skim a header towards the United goal. His downward effort bouncves up and hits the cross-bar and he gets a second bite of the cherryl. His second effort goes over the bar. Manchester United’s defending is bordering on the calamitous here.
40 min: Having just recovered from an injury that had kept him sidelined for three matches, Luis Sinisterra is forced off with what might be a recurrence. Perhaps he was rushed back too soon? WHatever happened, his evening is over and he’s replaced by Lloyd Kelly. The substitute goes in at left-back and Milos Kerkez moves to midfield.
37 min: The defending, or complete lack of it, by Manchester United for that goal was remarkable. Kluivert was given the freedom of the Vitality Stadium as he made his wayt into the United penalty area from the left flank. And while I’d need to see it again, I think Andre Onana could possibly have done better too. The United goalkeeper was left very exposed by his defenders, however.
GOAL! Bournemouth 2-1 Man United (Kluivert 36)
Bournemouth lead again! With the ball at his feet, Kluivert drifts into the massive gap between Diogo Dalot and Willy Kambwala and has all the time in the world to pick his spot before rifling the ball into the bottom corner.
34 min: Solanke picks out Dango Ouattara with a low pass in behind from deep into the United penalty area. Under pressure from Aaron Wan-Bissaka, the winger gets a shot off but sends the ball wide of the far post. That was a great chance for Bournemouth to retake the lead but it’s been wasted.
33 min: Marcos Senesi is booked for a robust challenge on Alejandro Garnacho.
GOAL! Bournemouth 1-1 Man United (Fernandes 31)
United are level! Garnacho squares the ball from the right and his pass takes a deflection off a defender. It sits up beautifully for Fernandes, who fires high into the net from the edge of the six-yard box.
29 min: Bournemouth attack down the left again and Sinisterra tees up Ryan Christie, who is unmarked in a pocket of space just inside the United penalty area. His low shot is straight at Onana.
28 min: Ryan Christie tries his luck with a rising drive from distance. The ball fizzes a few inches over the cross-bar.
24 min: Ryan Christie picks out Sinisterra with a pass out to the left wing and he cuts inside to combine with Kerkez. The Hungarian international’s heavy touch sends the ball out of play for a goal-kick, when a lighter one might have presented a good shooting opportunity. Bournemouth are holding to their lead with considerable ease.
23 min: Looking at replays of the Bournemouth goal, it is probably worth noting that it was a poor touch from Alejandro Garnacho that let Solanke win the ball and bear down on the United penalty area before Kambwala made his task a lot easier by falling over.
22 min: There’s another break in play, so the referee can have his comms device repaired or replaced.
21 min: Luis Sinisterra runs into space down the left with Diogo Dalot backing off him. Spying an opportunity to shoot, Sinisterra pulls the trigger and his left-footed effort rolls across the face of goal and narrowly wide of the far post.
20 min: There’s a break in play so Bouornemouth left-back Milos Kerkez can recieve treatment for an injury.
18 min: Possibly having seen Micky van de Ven’s two slips at the back for Spurs earlier today, Kambwala decides to follow the Dutchman’s lead. He lost his balance while trying to turn to allow Solanke the room he needed to score.
GOAL! Bournemouth 1-0 Man United (Solanke 16)
Bournemouth lead! In a one-on-one with Will Kambwala, Solanke takes advantage of a slip from the teenage defender, shapes to shoot from 20 yards out and strokes the ball into the bottom left-hand corner. That was a very precise strike.
14 min: Kobbie Mainoo tries to play Rasmus Hojlund in behind the Bournemouth defence but Marcos Senesi shepherds the ball back to Neto.
12 min: Bruno Fernandes sends a high backpass to Andre Onana from near the halfway line and the goalkeeper is fortced to leave his penalty area to deal with the bouncing ball. It breifly looked as if things might get a little hairy for the United goalkeeper but he was equal to the task in hand. Well, the task at feet.
11 min: Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho exchange passes in midfield as the first half meanders on without much in the way of excitement unfolding.
10 min: Justin Kluivert is penalised for a foul on Harry Maguire deep in United territory. Moments later, Lewis Cook fouls Bruno Fernandes, prompting refereee Tony Harrington to blow his whistle again.
8 min: Bournemouth launch the ball over the halfway line from deep but Willy Kambwala gets the better of Dominic Solanke in an aerial tussle.
7 min: Ryan Christie dribbles through the United penalty area and is forced wide. He manages to get a shot off under a tight angle, forcing Harry Maguire to block.
6 min: These opening stages have been fairly scrappy but Manchester United are dominating possession as the two sides size each other up.
4 min: Aaron Wan-Bissaka overcooks a pass down the inside left, giving Rashford too much to do. Neto clears up at the back for Bournemouth.
3 min: Bournemouth win a corner as Dominic Solanke leaps to contest a high ball into the Manchester United penalty area from Luis Sinisterra. Ryan Christie sends the ball towards the near post, where Bruno Fernandes heads it clear.
2 min: Illia Zabarnyi hacks the ball upfield for Bournemouth from near the corner flag, foiling an early Manchester United attack down the left.
Bournemouth v Manchester United is go …
1 min: Manchester United get the ball rolling in the evening sunshine, their players wearing white shirts, shorts and socks.
Not long now: The players amble out on to the Vitality Stadium pitch, led by referee Tony Harrington and his team of match officials. Kick-off is just a few minutes away.
Andoni Iraola: “We have the advantage of playing at home, but it is going to be difficult because they are a very good team with very good players,” says the Bournemouth manager in an interview with Sky Sports. “You have to keep the concentration over 100 minutes with them because if we make a mistake, normally they score.”
Dominic Solanke: Despite some late pre-match concerns over the Bournemouth striker’s striker’s fitness, he will start this game hoping to add to the 16 Premier League goals he has scored this season. It looked like he might have done himself sort of mischief in the warm-up but he will play.
Those teams: Manchester United field an unchanged side to the one that drew with Liverpool last weekend and name several academy graduates on their bench.
Marco Senesi comes in at the back for Bournemouth, with Lloyd Kelly making way. Further up the pitch, Luis Sinisterra and Dango Ouattara come in for the injured Marcus Tavernier and Antoine Semenyo.
Today’s match officials
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Referee: Tony Harrington,
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Assistants: Matthew Wilkes and Derek Eaton.
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Fourth official: Graham Scott.
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VAR: Jarred Gillett.
Bournemouth v Manchester United line-ups
Bournemouth: Neto, Smith, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Kerkez, Cook, Christie, Sinisterra, Kluivert, Ouattara, Solanke.
Subs: Kelly, Faivre, Scott, Hill, Unal, Billing, Aarons, Travers, Gonzalez.
Man Utd: Onana, Dalot, Kambwala, Maguire, Wan-Bissaka, Casemiro, Mainoo, Garnacho, Bruno Fernandes, Rashford, Hojlund.
Subs: Bayindir, Amrabat, Mount, Eriksen, Diallo, Forson, Amass, Ogunneye, Wheatley.
Early team news
Bournemouth are without influential midfielder Marcus Tavernier, who has been ruled out with a thigh injury, as has Luis Sinesterra. The Cherries’ right-back Ryan Fredericks is sidelined with a calf injury, while Antoine Semenyo, Chris Mepham and Tyler Adams are all due to be assessed before the team-sheets are handfed in.
With Raphael Varane joining Jonny Evans, Victor Lindelof and Lisandro Martinez in the treatment room, Willy Kambwala will partner Harry Maguire in the heart of Manchester United’s defence. Tyrell Malacia, Luke Shaw, Scott McTominay and Anthony Martial are also sidelined, while Marcus Rashford is a major doubt for the visitors.
Premier League: Bournemouth v Manchester United
Without a win in three games, Manchester United travel to the Vitality Stadium hoping to avenge the hiding they suffered at the hands of Bournemouth at Old Trafford in December. It was a day the Guardian’s Jamie Jackson described Erik ten Hag’s side as “a rabble reminiscent of the United of the dog days under his predecessor, Ole Gunnar Solskjær”.
Bournemouth lost at Luton last time out but had won three on the spin previously against the Hatters, Everton and Crystal Palace. Andoni Iraola’s side sit in 12th place, comfortably mid-table and in no danger whatsoever of being relegated. Kick-off on the south coast is at 5.30pm but we’ll have team news and build-up in the meantime.
