Jose Mourinho enjoyed a winning start to life as Manchester United boss as his side comfortably beat Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday. Goals from Juan Mata, Wayne Rooney and new signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic were enough to bag the points, and a brilliant consolation goal was scored by Bournemouth’s Adam Smith.
The result takes Manchester United to the top of the table – albeit for the time-being – on goal difference.
Here are the five talking points from the game at Bournemouth:
#1 Francis’ double-blunder gifts United the lead
A fairly pedestrian first half received its much-needed spark in the 40th minute thanks to a horrendous double-error by Simon Francis. The Cherries’ newly-appointed captain mistimed the pace of his backpass from a harmless Ander Herrera ball, for Mata to pounce upon.
His toe-poke was initially saved by keeper Arthur Boruc, only for Francis to direct the ball in Mata’s path for the second time – this time, inadvertently. However, by then Boruc was out of the picture after making that first save, which meant that Mata had the easiest job of slotting the ball into an empty net.
It was not the way Manchester United would have expected to open their account for the season, but Mourinho is all about winning football games, no matter how.
#2 Both teams sorting themselves out in the first half
In contrast to the beautiful, sunny day at Bournemouth, it was a pretty dull first half at the Vitality Stadium. Both teams were comfortable putting players behind the ball. Manchester United, in particular, didn’t provide too much evidence that they had put Louis van Gaal’s defensive mentality behind them, under the Mourinho era.
They did not create enough to unsettle Bournemouth’s back four, who managed to keep Zlatan Ibrahimovic quiet on his Premier League debut. However, with the season still in its embryonic stage and new acquisitions for both teams, it was expected that both teams would take awhile to understand their new team-mates’ attributes.
Overall, the free-flowing, high press football which is definitive of the Premier League was not entirely visible in the opening exchanges.
#3 Rooney and Zlatan burst the Cherries’ bubble early in the second half
A much livelier second half saw Bournemouth enjoy their best spell of possession, as they managed to put in good crosses through their full-backs and test the United defence for the first time in the match. However, the sucker-punch came from yet another Bournemouth error.
Antonio Valencia dispossessed Josh King and his cross was headed towards Martial. He couldn’t time his effort on goal, but the mishit fell into the path of Wayne Rooney, who headed it past the reach of an outstretched Arthur Boruc.
Five minutes later, it was debutant Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s turn to open his account on his Premier League curtain-raiser, firing a low shot from outside the box across Boruc and into the bottom corner to make it 0-3. The 34-year old, who has already enjoyed a glittering career, showed early signs that he was capable of living up to the challenges of the Premier League.
Mourinho will be hoping that the veteran can build on this start and maintain a level of consistency in the upcoming games.
#4 Adam Smith’s fantastic strike opens up the game, but a bit too late for Bournemouth
The game was all but out of Bournemouth’s hands after falling three goals behind, but full-back Adam Smith had other ideas. Soon after Zlatan’s strike, he collected substitute Lewis Grabban’s pass and rifled a shot past David de Gea to bring the Cherries back into the mix.
It was a fantastic strike off his left foot and de Gea had very little chance to keep it out. As the game reached its closing stages, it was Bournemouth who had most of the say in the game. Their full-backs constantly peppered the United box with some dangerous crosses and de Gea was forced to make a couple of good saves to keep United’s cushion intact.
Eddie Howe’s side finished the game on a high, but the damage had already been done.
#5 How did Jose Mourinho fare?
On his return to the Premier League stage, eight months to the date since his Chelsea side were beaten by eventual champions Leicester, two days before his dismissal, Jose Mourinho oversaw a performance typical of what a Mourinho side is expected to do – build a lead and see the game out.
Mourinho’s focus on results rather than style was conveyed via the players at the Vitality Stadium, as goals from Mata, Rooney and Zlatan were enough to secure the victory and shift the attention to seeing the game out.
A fantastic Adam Smith strike apart, Manchester United defended the late Bournemouth onslaught professionally - the likes of Marouane Fellaini eliminating any aerial threat coming from Bournemouth crosses.
It was a near-perfect start to life in the Mourinho regime and Manchester United fans will not mind the effective, if not highly attacking mindset the players develop under their new manager, as long as the three points keep coming.
