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22 mins: Again, Mount seizes on the ball and United win a corner. Bournemouth look really sluggish, and need to get off the ropes here. They’re helped when Dalot is penalised for a foul; there’s a VAR check on Scott, who was leaning on Casemiro when the ball struck his arm.
“It was reported that Amorim might start experimenting with a back four with Afcon taking Amad and Mbeumo out of the equation,” notes Alan McNamara. “Will it only be a temporary measure though? I like what I see so far.”
20 mins: Mount pounces on slow play out from the back and United move the ball quickly across goal, Amad backheeling smartly to Mbeumo. They’ve been dominant thus far.
19 mins: Back at the other end, Cunha has a go from 20 yards that isn’t too far from finding the top corner.
18 mins: At the other end, Casemiro’s careless pass puts United’s defence at risk, but Kluivert can’t get the ball under control.
16 mins: An early heatmap shows United playing with a back four missing a left-back – Dalot is further forward, dovetailing with Mason Mount ahead of it. It’s a little bit different.
15 mins: There’s a VAR check to determine if Amad was an inch offside when Cunha maybe headed the ball – but Senesi was playing him onside.
It’s not the toughest goal he’ll ever score, heading home a loose ball on the goal line. The goal was created by Dalot, pushing forward again down the left, whose cross is close to Cunha’s head – hard to tell if he got a touch. Either way, Petrovic is wrong-footed and the ball bounces under the keeper and up in the air, allowing Amad to head home.
GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Bournemouth (Amad 13')
United take a deserved lead, Amad Diallo nodding home in his final appearance before he heads to Afcon!
12 mins: Are United playing a back four? It looks like Leny Yoro is drifting wide, leaving Heaven and Shaw in the middle, with Diogo Dalot dropping back from his usual wing-back slot. So, a back four? Ruben Amorim may argue, but that’s what it looks like.
11 mins: Lammens swats the corner away and it runs out for a throw in. Semenyo’s cross is blocked and when the ball is worked back to him, he’s offside.
10 mins: Bournemouth get upfield for the first time and Truffert gets between Yoro and Heaven, with the late-arriving Shaw sending his cross behind. The first corner is nodded over by Casemiro …
9 mins: Casemiro is the latest player in red to have a go at goal, but his shot is high and wide.
8 mins: The corner is half-cleared but United work the ball down the left and Mbeumo crosses to Mount, whose snap shot at the near post is fended away by Petrovic.
7 mins: A lively start for United, and it continues with Amad cutting inside Truffert and firing in a shot that’s deflected behind.
5 mins: Oof! The corner zips through the penalty box, with Petrovic seemingly distracted by a jumping Dalot in front of him. Alex Scott, dropped to the bench for Adams tonight, is now on to replace him.
4 mins: There’s a delay before the corner is taken as Tyler Adams has stayed down after a collision with Fernandes. It looks like he’s hurt his knee, and will have to come off.
2 mins: The shot deflected off two Bournemouth players at speed, and the VAR sees no reason to intervene. United keep pressing and Cunha has a shot from distance that deflects behind for a corner.
1 min: Early opening for the hosts, as Amad runs on to Cunha’s diagonal with Mbeumo alongside. His pass is just overhit, though, so Mbeumo backheels to Fernandes – whose shot ricochets off a hand …
Peep!
Simon Hooper gets us under way. Bournemouth are in their blue and black away kit, United in the usual red shirt, white shorts, black socks.
The players are out at a noisy Old Trafford. It’s go time!
As Peter Oh points out, Bournemouth have their own “hair guy” on their badge. “In a cup tie against United’s ‘hair guy’, the winner would go on to face Barnet.” But did you know that the chap on the Cherries’ badge is based on a real person?
Here’s Football Daily on crisis at Celtic, with the requisite hat-tip to Scottish League Cup winners St Mirren.
In his weekly newsletter, Jonathan Wilson takes a look at Thomas Frank’s fragile tenure at Tottenham.
Remember Sergio Reguilón? The former United loanee has signed for Inter Miami, more than six months after leaving Spurs at the end of his contract. The left-back will wear No 3 and is replacing Jordi Alba, who announced his retirement today.
“Frank (see preamble) is my soul brother,” writes Krishna Moorthy. “In the 90s in India, I announced I would not shave my beard until my steel plant made 16 melts in a day. Two months passed and the general manager warned me that I would trip on my beard soon. In the third month, my colleagues got it done. Hang in there, Frank.”
“I’ll jump in the sea if we play well and win,” roars Paul Moody, who is at least in Brazil. Let’s all just calm down now.
Ruben Amorim gives his pre-game thoughts as he seeks a home win after losing to Everton and drawing 1-1 with West Ham. “We have to have more quality in the buildup, press better … we need to be a more mature team. We’ve made mistakes that have cost us a lot of points.”
One change too from Andoni Iraola, with Tyler Adams replacing Alex Scott – a rumoured summer target for United – in midfield.
“Good memories here, but it’s probably not going to be the same result,” Iraola tells Sky. “United are playing better, they are on a great run, and for us it’s the opposite.” Well, at least he’s honest.
Ruben Amorim makes just one change from the side that beat Wolves, with Noussair Mazraoui out of the squad and off to Afcon duty with Morocco; he’s replaced by Leny Yoro. Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo are able to play tonight before flying out for the tournament, though.
Team news
Manchester United (3-4-3): Lammens; Yoro, Heaven, Shaw; Amad, Casemiro, Fernandes, Dalot; Mbeumo, Mount, Cunha.
Subs: Bayindir, Martínez, Zirkzee, Malacia, Dorgu, Ugarte, Sesko, Fredricson, Mainoo.
Bournemouth (4-2-3-1): Petrovic; Smith, Diakité, Senesi, Truffert; Tavernier, Adams; Jiménez, Kluivert, Semenyo; Evanilson. Subs: Dennis, Araujo, Soler, Brooks, Scott, Adli, Junior Kroupi, Hill, Unal.
And get on to the Guardian app to try out our new daily football game …
Play our new game: On the ball
ShowPreamble
These days, I can’t think about Manchester United without also thinking about the hair guy. You know the one. He vowed not to trim his locks until United won five games in a row; that was now 436 days ago. Poor Frank. He may have earned plenty of followers with this stunt but he still has to walk around with that ludicrous Beefeater barnet, the living embodiment of his beloved team’s relentless decay.
Still, there are reasons to be positive. United are improving, with Ruben Amorim climbing off the hot seat and getting his team reacquainted with the right end of the table. It’s been a slow process: a first run of three straight wins under Amorim was followed by one victory in five. Last Monday’s 4-1 victory at Wolves looks more impressive in the light of Arsenal’s struggles against the league’s bottom side.
Bournemouth should provide a tougher test, having won 3-0 on their last two trips to Old Trafford. That said, Andoni Iraola’s side arrive here in an alarming slump. Since beating Nottingham Forest to go second in the table in late October, a run of six without a win has dropped them all the way down to 15th in the tightly-packed league table.
A chance, then, for United to stay in the top-four race, move level on points with Chelsea and turn the big win ticker up to two. Next up: a trip to red-hot Aston Villa?! Oh Frank! At least you’ll be warm this winter.
