Manchester United confirmed 5th place in the Premier League with a 3-1 win over Bournemouth. Wayne Rooney opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time, with an impressive Rashford making the game safe midway through the second half, while Ashley Young provided the icing on the cake with a late goal. Smalling’s own-goal in injury time denied David de Gea the Golden Glove.
Lineups:
Manchester United XI: De Gea; Valencia, Smalling, Blind, Borthwick-Jackson; Carrick, Rooney; Mata, Lingard, Martial; Rashford.
Bournemouth XI: Federici; Francis, Elphick, Cook, Daniels; Ritchie, Gosling, Surman, Pugh; King, Wilson.
First Half:
The drama surrounding this fixture on Sunday, which was abandoned after a bomb scare, did not reflect in the attendances as Old Trafford bore an empty look at kickoff. With Manchester City having made UEFA Champions League qualifications all but a certainty, the game was essentially a dead rubber, with Old Trafford witnessing it’s lowest crowd attendance in 20 years.
The flat atmosphere extended to the players, with Manchester United dominating the ball, but absolutely unable to make a clear chance, with the Cherries rather organised in defence. A few half-chances fell to Lingard and Martial, but the game was absolutely abject with both sides having a single shot 30 minutes in.
The first clear chance of the first half came in the 33rd minute, when Wayne Rooney sent in a free kick from deep that only required Michael Carrick to tap the ball home, but as the Englishman stretched, he could not make contact with the ball, allowing Federici to collect the ball. The Cherries had their first opportunity through Pugh, but he crashed his shot from a low cross at a United body, instead of the goal.
With the half coming to an end, Wayne Rooney brought the game to life with the opening goal in the 43rd minute. Anthony Martial was instrumental, playing a quick one-two with Mata and bursting into the left edge of the box and sending in a low cross that Rashford dummied over to allow Rooney to tap the ball home, giving the Red Devils the lead going into the break.
Second Half:
In start contrast to the first 45, the second half started with a bang, with Rooney and Wilson having deflected strikes on goal. The hosts were soon appealing for a penalty after Juan Mata was challenged by Steve Cook in the box and went down, but the referee waved play on, despite replays later showing that there was contact.
Spurred on by the injustice, Michael Carrick left fly with an absolute thunderbolt of a shot from 35 yards out, and the veteran midfielder watched in agony as his shot hit the crossbar in the 54th minute. A spell of Manchester United pressure followed, with Mata, Lingard and Valencia going close after wonderful play from Rashford on the right wing.
The United youngster finally made the game safe in the 73rd minute, grabbing United’s second with an excellent goal. Wayne Rooney initiated the move, playing a lovely cross field ball to Valencia deep at the far post, and the Ecuadorian headed the ball back to Rashford in the box, who crashed a low first-time volley across Federici and into the net.
Both managers rung in the changes as the game ended, and substitute Memphis Depay had a great chance to score with a free header in the final 10 minutes, but was pulled up for being offside. Ashley Young provided the icing on the cake, running on to a lovely chipped ball from Rooney and watching his shot squirm past Federici, scoring United’s third in the 87th minute.
However, there was personal disappointment in store for David de Gea, as Smalling’s own goal in injury time denied him a 16th clean sheet and the Golden Glove, with Petr Cech winning the award. The refere blew the final whistle to bring the curtain down on the Premier League season, with Old Trafford being relatively happy with the result, but not the season.
