Barely three days after crashing out of the UEFA champions league, Manchester United have once again been subjected to another defeat, but this time to a lowly Bournemouth, who have suddenly turned themselves to giant slayers.
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Fellaini equalized at the 24′, but Joshua King would find a second scoring strike for AFC Bournemouth to put them up 2-1.
Bournemouth boss Howe hailed midfielder Arter for keeping his raw emotions in check after he and his partner lost a child at birth in midweek.
Josh King was the match-winner for Bournemouth in the 54th minute, finding himself in lots of space to turn in a finish from a pre-planned corner routine.
“But for me the most important thing is the commitment of my players to perform as we have agreed and I can only tell you they want to do that”.
Bournemouth made another giant-killing as they beat Manchester United 2-1 to move up the table and further away from the relegation zone.
United are without a win in five games, but Bournemouth are heading in the opposite direction after following up last week’s victory at Chelsea with another prized scalp. I don’t think it is [completely] like that ” I can make the difference, in tactics and everything, but I cannot score goals”, he said. Van Gaal’s side did not attain the level of control that their manager craves but, on the other hand, they were not as ponderous as they have been on occasions this season, playing with a higher tempo and, due mainly to the presence of Fellaini, with more directness.
“I didn’t see that you said anything positive for [Guillermo] Varela”, he said, nearly hurt.
Van Gaal refused to lay blame on goalkeeper for De Gea for his rare misjudgement and stated his focus was on how United could come back into the game.
With Van Gaal already coming under fire over his side’s style of play and the limitations of his squad despite heavy investment in new players, it will have done nothing to strengthen the Dutchman’s position.
Van Gaal said wins in United’s next three matches – against Norwich, Stoke and Chelsea – will allow them to sustain their Premier League title hopes.
The hosts, fresh from their shock win at Stamford Bridge last weekend, got off to the flawless start when Junior Stanislas scored direct from a corner on two minutes.
“Of course it’s disappointing if you lose two matches in a row in an important week, so now we have to stay there in a position to keep fighting”. There’s till more than half a season to play, however it’s looking more and more like the little club that could has the ability to avoid relegation.
It remains to be seen whether the United board will be tempted to end the Van Gaal era now, but it is clear that the concern surrounding his tenure as manager is now exploding into a fully blown crisis.
“Of course I’m concerned because we have lost two matches in a row, and that is not a usual thing, so we have to stick together and prepare our match against Norwich”.
“In half-time I speak about how we have to do it in the second half”, said Van Gaal.
United finally carved out their first decent chance of the second half when Martial took on three Bournemouth defenders, but his shot went over the bar.
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And the loss of forward Jesse Lingard midway through the first half only added to the manager’s concerns.
