MANCHESTER: Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim said his side had inspired the Old Trafford crowd in a pulsating 4-4 draw against Bournemouth on Monday, but must be more ruthless to turn draws into victories.

Amorim cheered what he thought was the winner when Matheus Cunha scored in the 79th minute for a 4-3 lead. But 19-year-old substitute Eli Junior Kroupi equalised in the 84th minute, the second time in the match United had forfeited the lead to cap a Premier League thriller that swung wildly from start to finish.

In one of their best performances this season, United still conceded four goals; their defensive frailties exposed without the experienced duo of Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt as they failed to win for the third consecutive home game.

The Red Devils were beaten 1-0 at Old Trafford by 10-man Everton last month and also blew the lead in a 1-1 draw against struggling West Ham United as they squandered the chance to move level with fourth-place Chelsea in the standings, and instead are sixth on 26 points.

Amorim’s men pummelled Bournemouth with 17 shots in a thoroughly dominant first half, but the visitors were able to capitalise on United’s wastefulness.

“It’s really disappointing, we are really disappointed. Crazy game. It might look like we lost the two points in the second half but I think we lost them in the first half,” said the Portuguese coach.

“We dominated and created so many chances. We had to go to half-time with a different result. In the end we deserved more. It was a fun game for everyone at home.

“People especially at Old Trafford want to win but they want to be inspired to see a team play good football. We did that well in certain moments. It was a good performance but we need to be more clinical because we created so many chances.”

Amorim stressed the issue is more mental than tactical.

“[There were] A lot of good things, but a lot of things to work on,” Amorim said. “We are not winning games sometimes in the details. It’s not because it’s a back four, back three, back five. It’s the details that we need to work, understand the momentum of the game and we need to be clinical.”

Bournemouth’s winless run stretches to seven games but a point edges them up to 13th.

“It’s very difficult to explain because so much happened,” said Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola. “I suppose it was entertaining for everyone. Two teams that attacked much better than we defended.”

United’s Amad Diallo opened the scoring with a close-range header in the 13th minute after goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic initially saved Diogo Dalot’s cross.

Bournemouth levelled against the run of play on 40 minutes. Luke Shaw was easily barged off the ball, allowing Antoine Semenyo to gallop into the box and fire low and hard across United goalkeeper Senne Lammens for his first goal since October 3.

Casemiro restored United’s lead with a header from a corner on the stroke of halftime, gifted by goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic’s fumbled save attempt.

But all the Red Devils good first half work was undone within seven minutes of the second.

Evanilson pounced on Tavernier’s pass to slot into the far corner just 37 seconds after the restart for his first goal since August.

Marcus Tavernier then drilled a free-kick from the edge of the area past the despairing dive of Lammens.

But United fought back, with Bruno Fernandes curling in a stunning set-piece of his own in the 77th minute to level before Cunha swept home when Adam Smith failed to clear Benjamin Sesko’s cross.

But the night had one more twist as Kroupi had the last word when Alejandro Jimenez found him on the edge of the box and only two great saves from Lammens deep into stoppage time prevented David Brooks from snatching Bournemouth victory on a madcap Monday in Manchester.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2025