Manchester United come out on top against Bournemouth

Manchester United kicked off their first match of 2023 with a 3-0 win over Bournemouth in front of the Old Trafford faithful

January 03 – After a 1-0 win on New Year’s Eve, Manchester United returned home to face off against AFC Bournemouth.

There were some key changes to United’s lineup, notably Marcus Rashford returned to the starting XI after being benched for the match against Wolves where he came on as a substitute and scored the game-winner. There was a complete change to the middle of the defence, as both Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelöf started. Raphael Varane moved to the bench whilst Luke Shaw, who surprisingly featured as a centre-back against Wolves, shifted to left-back. The other lone change was youngster Alejandro Garnacho dropping to the bench in favour of Donny van de Beek.

Bournemouth made two changes from their last fixture, with Moore and Zemura losing a starting spot, and being replaced by Mepham and Christie.

Casemiro kicked off the scoring for United heading a beautifully placed cross from Christian Eriksen into the back of the opposition net in the 23rd minute.

Unfortunate news struck just before half-time as Donny van de Beek sustained an injury on a controversial tackle from Marcos Senesi. van de Beek was subbed off for Alejandro Garnacho.

Shortly after the break, United picked up their second goal of the match from Luke Shaw who found himself in the middle of the penalty area slotting home a pass from Garnacho.

As the second half continued, Manchester United made a triple change bringing on Fred, Elanga and Dalot in place of Eriksen, Wan-Bissaka and Martial.

United’s third goal came late, in the 86th minute Luke Shaw delivered a wonderful cross into the path of a bolting Bruno Fernandes who then passed the ball to an open Marcus Rashford and the in-form striker made no mistake from in close.

https://twitter.com/ManUtd/status/1610405271922434048?s=20&t=hXyZF3WTj1XvO7VUbFwpyQ

FT – United finished the match with 18 shots (6 on target) and 59% possession. Per xGPhilosophy, the Expected Goals were 2.39 for United and 0.66 for Bournemouth. The win marked United’s 4th straight Premier League win and 6th competitive win in a row. Ten Hag’s side has grown into the Dutchman’s system and they are starting to see results.

Despite the 3-0 win, Erik Ten Hag did not sugarcoat how he felt about his team’s performance (source):

"“I am happy with 3-0, that is obvious and quite clear but today was not our best game. We didn’t play smart as a team and sometimes we were lucky.”"

Manchester’s next match is a FA Cup fixture at Old Trafford where they will take on Everton.