Amorim says Man Utd's loss to Bournemouth was due to not taking chances, not just poor defending

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim, Leny Yoro and Lisandro Martinez dejected the Premier League defeat to Bournemouth. Picture: Martin Rickett/PA Wire.

Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United reign lurched further into crisis with an emphatic and embarrassing defeat to Bournemouth that was greeted by boos from a half-empty Old Trafford.

Andoni Iraola’s visitors were full value for a victory that underlined the depths to which United have sunk and the enormity of the task facing Erik ten Hag’s successor.

The 3-0 win was a repeat of the result at the start of December last season and reinforced the fact that ten Hag’s dismissal has brought about no short-term gain for United.

They also still face the complications surrounding Marcus Rashford who, for a third straight game, was left out of the match day squad by Amorim for “selection” reasons.

But Amorim was keen to deflect criticism from his set-piece coach, Carlos Fernandes, who has presided over a defence that has allowed seven such goals from their last six games.

“The responsibility of everything is me, is not Carlos, it’s on me,” said Amorim. “We are a team, we are a team in good moments and bad moments.

“We have a way of doing things, we are working on that and we are going to improve on that also but we didn’t lose because of set pieces.

“We lost because we create more chances and we didn’t score and then in this moment everything against us they can score, like against Tottenham, we create chances also. It’s a difficult moment but the responsibility is me, not Carlos.” 

United fell behind just before the half-hour in depressingly familiar fashion, conceding from a set-piece for the ninth time in the Premier League this season.

It came from a free-kick, awarded for a foul on the wing by Tyrell Malacia on Adam Smith, the latest in a number of errors made by the Dutch defender.

Ryan Christie swung in the free-kick and teenage defender Dean Huijsen was unmarked to head in from six yards, arriving between Bruno Fernandes and Joshua Zirkzee.

So unimpressive was United’s organisation that it was not immediately apparent who was responsible for the failure but Zirkzee looked prime culprit.

It was also, incredibly, the 17th set-piece goal United have conceded in the calendar year - a new worst mark in Premier League history.

At least United showed some sort of response, in the foul wintry conditions, and could have been level by the interval with Fernandes presented with three good chances in the last five minutes of the half alone.

First, he was set up by Amad Diallo for a shot which he screwed wide from 15 yards.

Then Kobbie Mainoo’s assist, following a mistake by Huijsen, saw Fernandes draw a good flying stop out of keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Then, after United threatened from late first half corner, Fernandes ended the period with a shot that just drifted wide from 25 yards.

Amorim rang the changes, three of them inside the opening 10 minutes of the second half, and there were some moments of threat from the Reds - notably from a 55th minute corner which Lewis Cook did well to clear from under his bar.

But the situation worsened on the hour when Patrick Kluivert sprinted into the area and was tripped from behind by Noussair Mazraoiui, a penalty decision by referee Craig Pawson which VAR confirmed.

Kluivert, who recently became the first player in Premier League history to score three penalties in the same game at Wolves, made no mistake with a cool finish.

Two minutes later, a bad afternoon turned positively catastrophic as Bournemouth scored a third after Mainoo gave the ball away in midfield.

Antoine Semenyo broke upfield before finding Evanilson who timed his pass perfectly for Dango Ouattara to run onto.

The winger selflessly picked out Semenyo in the area and, with Lisandro Martinez rooted to the spot and failing to close him down, Semenyo swept in an excellent finish.

“It’s my responsibility to coach them, of course we want to improve,” said Amorim.

“In this moment, everything is so (much) harder, a club like Manchester United to lose 3-0 at home, it’s really tough for everybody. And of course the fans are really disappointed and tired.

“You can feel it in the stadium in the first play, and I understand that, but we have to face it. We know what to do. We have to improve set pieces.” 

Alejandro Garnacho, dropped along with Rashford for last weekend’s derby win, came off the bench and could have pulled a goal back when played clean through but hit his shot straight at Kepa from the edge of the area.

Fellow sub Rasmus Hojlund also forced a good save out of the Bournemouth keeper, begging the question why he had not started the game.

The same still applies to Rashford, left out for what Amorim describes as “selection” reasons. “It’s my decision,” said Amorim, “And it always will be. It is selection. I want to see the best of my players and I try different things with different players. That’s my focus.” Amorim insists he has not ruled Rashford out of the Boxing Day visit to Wolves. “It depends. We will see,” he said.

Man United (3-4-2-1): Onana 5; Mazraoui 4, Maguire 5, Martinez 5; Dalot 5, Ugarte 5 (Garnacho 54, 5), Mainoo 6, Malacia 4 (Yoro 46, 5); Diallo 7, Fernandes 7; Zirkzee 5 (Hojlund 54, 6). Substitutes (not used) Bayindir, Casemiro, Collyer, Eriksen, Evans, Antony.

Bournemouth (4-2-3-1): Kepa 7; Smith 5 (Cook 46, 6), Zabarnyi 7, Huijsen 8, Kerkez 7; Adams 7 (Hill 89), Christie 7; Semenyo 9 (Brooks 89), Kluivert 8 (Billing 78, 5), Ouattara 7; Evanilson 7 (Unal 71, 6). Substitutes (not used) Aarons, Brooks, Hill, Kinsey, Travers, Winterburn.

Referee: C Pawson 7