Staff Takeaways: Bournemouth 2-2 Manchester United
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Take the Point – Suwaid
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United were quite unfortunate not to get all three points yesterday. Bournemouth – never ones to sit back – left themselves quite open, but United didn’t take advantage in the first half. The second half was more even before inconsistent refereeing took centre stage, and as frustrating as that was, United did well to hang on to the draw and go into gameweek 32 in third place.
Even the two sides above United in the league have not been beacons of consistency this season. In fact, in the 10 games under Michael Carrick, United have earned 2.3 points per game, which is above City’s 2.03 and Arsenal’s 2.25 per game for the season. Michael Carrick’s starting XI could be questioned, and so could the recent performances under his management, but some perspective is necessary. This wasn’t a bad point.
Can’t Afford to Switch Off – Colin
I don’t like to blame referees for results, even in instances such as this where Stuart Atwell’s inconsistency and inaction likely kept United from going 2-0 and cruising three points closer to UEFA Champions League qualification.
The hold on Amad and the hold on Evanilson are either both penalties or both no-calls, in my opinion, and to make matters worse, the no-call on Amad led directly to Bournemouth’s first goal and changed the nature of the contest. I thought it was going to be hard to go back and overturn it after the referee stared down the challenge and held his whistle down. Fair enough, it happens. It was frustrating, but it happens.
To call a penalty at the other end afterwards was nonsense, and to add a red card was ridiculous.
But United can’t switch off after the no-call. Bournemouth had plenty of attacks earlier in the match that were dealt with, but it seemed United were shellshocked at the first goal for the Cherries. They kept their heads enough to get back in front, but it was clear that belief had set in for Bournemouth enough to keep pushing.
Fair play to the 10-men who saw the game out and kept a point, but it was an opportunity missed even with the terrible officiating.