Højlund rescues point for Manchester United to deny 10-man Bournemouth

The Guardian

27-04-2025

Better days must lie ahead for Manchester United. Otherwise, things have gone truly pear-shaped. A Sunday where their fans lived vicariously through dreams of Tottenham delaying Liverpool's title celebrations or Nottingham Forest stopping City winning another FA Cup counts as a ground-zero ebb, even considering the decline and fall of the United empire. Losing against a 10-man Bournemouth would have completed an air of helpless, listless doom, only for Rasmus Højlund to rescue a barely believable – or deserved – point.
Reports of Ruben Amorim playing the kids ahead of Athletic Club on Thursday had proved exaggerated. Beyond the absentees Joshua Zirkzee and Diogo Dalot, the selection was as strong as can be expected from the Frankenstein-like horror of United's bolted-together squad.
Even if this group does somehow lift the Europa League, it will surely be broken up for scrap – Sir Jim Ratcliffe, sometime renewables enthusiast, was watching on – to fund the next attempted relaunch. With Ernesto Valverde's Athletic in mind, Amorim was running a case study against a team of a similar style, coached by a Basque bred by the same club. It did not go well.
If the past was United's, how long until the future is theirs? Luke Shaw, signed for Louis van Gaal in 2014, was making a first United start since February 2024, his only other start the Euro 2024 final. Though Shaw was part of the farce that resulted in Antoine Semenyo's goal he hardly looked more rusty than his colleagues. Andre Onana's goal-kick had played him into trouble, a frequent area of malfunction repeated to the point of obstinacy, or insanity itself.
If ropey goalkeeping and defending have been a problem, so too goalscoring, and it took Højlund scoring only his second goal of 2025 to rescue them. Somewhere amid the muddle, perhaps team spirit, that which carried them past Lyon, is in evidence, though far more than that is required. Still, it took Evanilson's red card to ignite any sense of momentum.
United's away support was, as ever, loud although songs of Matt Busby, Wayne Rooney, Eric Cantona and Cristiano Ronaldo cast gloomy shade – Amorim, however, was hailed lustily. His team began slowly and stayed that way, even when chasing an equaliser. Onana's playing out from the back swiftly attracted the mockery of home fans eventually disappointed their team failed to climb above Fulham and Brighton.
It was, though, Kobbie Mainoo who forced the first shot on goal, after an exchange with Alejandro Garnacho, the liveliest United attacker but whose shooting lacks accuracy. The Argentinian was on the receiving end of a tackle from Tyler Adams that required the video assistant referee to rule was not a straight red. A delay in play only served to loosen United's concentration, as Onana, Shaw and Patrick Dorgu got in a muddle. In stole Semenyo.
Amorim was enraged, pacing the touchline in shiny white sneakers, yelping instructions. His team responded with petulance. Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes made theatrical falls under Bournemouth challenges and there appeared little stomach for the fight until Kepa Arrizabalaga made a fine save from Garnacho. The long ball was being employed, short passing already given up as a bad job.
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The second half began with Semenyo presented with a decent scoring chance, then came another for Evanilson. At the other end, Dorgu overlapped and crossed into a penalty box bereft of United attackers. Dango Ouattara smashed a post with a free-kick from a near-impossible angle.
Just past the hour, on came Mason Mount, Manuel Ugarte and Victor Lindelöf, Mainoo, Casemiro and Harry Maguire rested with Bilbao in mind. Then came United's route back, Evanilson was red-carded following video review. His loose, ragged tackle on Noussair Mazraoui handed United 20 minutes plus nine added on.
Blessed with numbers though appearing to have little idea on how to press home any advantage, United hacked away cluelessly, as if attempting to fell a tree with a blunt object. Garnacho and Fernandes both delivered fresh-air efforts. Eventually came progress, though Mount had a shot deflected wide and Shaw walloped the resulting corner wide on the volley. Chido Obi-Martin, the teenager on as a sub, forced a save from Kepa before Fernandes wafted another wide. Højlund, from inches out, tapped in the result of a ricochet begun by Ugarte's desperate effort.
Cue celebrations in the away end. The United fans had previously run through a greatest hits playlist, including their celebration of 20 league titles collected an increasingly long time ago, the present too miserable to consider.