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Time for me to go and find a banana. John Brewin’s match report from the South Coast will be with you soon. All eyes are now on Anfield, where even the air has turned red. Do join Simon Burnton to see if Liverpool can grab the point they need to seal their 20th league title. Thanks for your company, correspondence and forthright views on Ruben Amorim. He can, at least, be relieved that Rasmus Hojlund has scored a goal, for only the fourth time in the league this season.
Liverpool v Tottenham: Premier League – live
“Alright Tim!” says Fergus MacElhatton. “Another Moan United fan here, though delighted to scrape a point today. Seems like much of Amorim’s and therefore our woes are due to his inflexibility with formation, despite generally not having the players to suit the 3-5-2. Is this arguably the final suffering inflicted by Ten Hag’s tactical anarchy, an overcorrection to the point of dogma?”
Ha. It’s certainly striking what has happened when Amorim has ditched the dogma. In the frantic final acts when he has switched to a back four, United now have two mini-wins and a mini-draw: it was 0-0 at Forest, 2-0 v Lyon and 1-0 here. In the same games, the back three was losing every time – 0-1, 3-4 and 0-1 again.
Here’s an email that came in before the equaliser. “I’m still amazed,” says Edan Tal, “about how Amorim is still able to sell the idea of being this bad as totally necessary for the future. Sometimes bad is just bad, and it looks like United will be stuck with lots of expensive centre-backs and no wingers when he gets sacked next year.”
“That red card,” says Andy Flintoff, “was similar to one for Fernandes earlier in the season, which was reduced on appeal as he slipped too. It doesn’t help Bournemouth now, of course.”
“One feature of ‘Amorim’s beloved back three’ (83 mins),” says Colum Farrelly, “is that you never know who might be in it. Like the midfield – any combo of five or six players. And the forwards. There is never a settled anything, except for Onana. And even he’s not a constant. The players must be well confused about who’s supposed to be where.” True. It takes top-class players to cope with that. With Shaw moving into centre-stage for the last 20 minutes, they did look better, but then they only had ten opponents.
So Andoni Iraola doesn’t join the club of managers who have done the double over United. But he does maintain his unbeaten record against them. United ended up having 25 shots, six of them on target; Bournemouth had eight, with just the one on target. When it was 11 v 11, Bournemouth were the better side, but thereafter, for 28 minutes, they showed that they weren’t born to park the bus.
“The glower of Sir Jim Ratcliffe,” says Eric Peterson, “gives him an uncanny resemblance to Roger Waters, as if he’s thinking about all those times the other jerks in Pink Floyd had the nerve to have musical thoughts of their own.”
“If Liverpool had stopped playing at Christmas,” says Marie Meyer in Santa Fe, “they’d still have more points than Man United.” Ha. According to Whoscored.com, it would actually be a tie – 39 all. But point taken.
The upshot is that Bournemouth stay 10th. Their chances of a place in Europe, already slim, are now vanishing, given their tough fixture list. United, on the other hand, soar to 14th, one place above Everton.
Fergie time does the trick! Well, up to a point. A draw is progress for United. Bournemouth paid in the end for the red card for Evanilson, whose slip eluded both the ref and the VAR.
90+9 min Obi goes down just inside the box, but it’s just a collision. Corner to United… they try something too elaborate, which ends with Shaw overhitting a cross.
90+7 min Iraola replaces Ouattara with Jebbison, probably to kill time.
They’ve found the net! Hojlund adds a flick to someone else’s shot. He could be offside, but no… the VAR gives the goal.
Rasmus Højlund scores! Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/Reuters
90+5 min United advance again. Garnacho, in his natural habitat now on the left wing, lets the ball roll under his foot and out for a throw-in. The home fans enjoy that.
90+3 min Chances for Garnacho, Eriksen and Fernandes! The first two were scrappy but Fernandes had a clear sight of goal. His shot from distance was curled artfully but not quite sharply enough.
90+2 min Final United sub: Dorgu is replaced by Eriksen, who takes over from Fernandes on corner duty.
90+1 min Chance for Obi! Sent through by Shaw, he does well to keep his balance and shoot for the top corner, where Kepa paws it out.
90 min There will be NINE more minutes. Where’s Maguire when they need him?
Nine minutes you say? Photograph: Matthew Peters/Manchester United/Getty Images
89 min Chance for Mount! Dorgu’s cut-back reaches him near the penalty spot, but his shot is deflected wide. Chance for Shaw! Fernandes finds him with a corner, but Shaw’s volley goes wide.
Mason Mount goes super close for United! Photograph: Dan Mullan/Getty Images
87 min If the score stays like this, Amorim will have lost 12 league games out of 23. A camera finds Jim Ratcliffe, who says he likes Amorim – but has been known to change his mind rather abruptly.
86 min Shaw wins a corner with a classy cross. He’s still got it.
85 min Bournemouth sub: Senesi for Semenyo as Iraola shores up his defence. Exit Semenyo, pursued by a big hand.
83 min I think Amorim has abandoned his beloved back three. It looks like 4-4-2 with Dorgu now at right-back and Hojlund and Obi up front. If it is a back four, that’s the third time Amorim has made this switch when in a tight corner. Both the previous times – late on against Forest and Lyon – the second striker was Maguire. It bore no fruit at Forest but brought the two last-gasp goals against Lyon. And United didn’t concede either time.
78 min United on the prowl again. Garnacho’s cut’-back can’t find a team-mate. As Bournemouth threaten to counter, Shaw takes one for the team.
77 min Chance for Obi! Shaw, now at left-back, executes a model overlap and cut-back, but Obi can’t quite sort his feet out in time to put any power into his shot.
76 min Amorim sends on a fourth sub, and it’s a bold one: Chido Obi, the teenage centre-forward, for Mazraoui, the seasoned odd-job man.
75 min And Bournemouth can still be a danger on the break. Some good work from Tavernier wins them a corner, which they can’t turn into a chance.
73 min One of the Bournemouth coaches, Neil Moss, collected a yellow card. Now the question is: can United make use of their good fortune. Answer: not right away, as Dorgu’s airy cross makes it easy for Kepa.
71 min Bournemouth subs: Tavernier for Kluivert, Cook for Scott.
Bankes had given a yellow, but now he brandishes a red. And the VAR, much to Alan Smith’s disgust, has not mentioned the possibility of a slip. “Dumbfounded about that one… It’s a total accident.”
That’s harsh on Evanilson. Photograph: Tony O Brien/Reuters
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