Ruben Amorim warned that there would be short-term pain for long-term gain at Manchester United, and on a windy and rather wild afternoon at Old Trafford, Bournemouth piled on the pain again.
If their 3-0 win here at Old Trafford a year ago came as a shock, it is a sign of the deep-seated malaise that Amorim has been brought in to cure at United that this kind of result no longer has to be a surprise.
“Man United, it’s happening again,” sang the jubilant Bournemouth fans as United suffered a recurring nightmare just before Christmas.
Three days after losing three times at Tottenham and rallying to a courageous 4-3 Carabao Cup result, United never looked like turning the tide.
They are in the bottom half of the table for the first time since 1989 after a fourth defeat in six games under their new head coach.
Amorim’s painful prediction has become a terrible reality.
Ruben Amorim has overseen back-to-back defeats at home as Man United lost to Bournemouth
Dean Huijsen (left) headed the Cherries into the lead and they never looked back, winning 3-0
Justin Kluivert (center) scored a penalty before Antoine Semenyo (right) sealed the victory
He made six changes to the side that lost at Spurs on Thursday evening, bringing back Andre Onana, Tyrell Malacia, Harry Maguire, Kobbie Mainoo, Amad Diallo and Joshua Zirkzee, but there was still no place for Marcus Rashford in the squad.
“We have to manage the players,” Amorim said. “You can see that we have had problems with injuries in our last two games before half-time.
‘In the last game I felt a real improvement for the first time. We must maintain consistency in execution. We know the fans want us to control the game and we have to be very smart against this team.”
Keeping everything under control in the windy conditions was a challenge in itself, as Diogo Dalot found out in the opening moments when the ball almost blew away from him.
It contributed to a scrappy match that started well for United when Adam Smith intercepted Zirkzee’s pass in the penalty area and accidentally hit the ball to Diallo, who’s low shot forced a clever save from Kepa Arrizabalaga.
But Bournemouth began to gain a foothold in the match and Onana saved from Antoine Semeyo shortly afterwards.
It was no surprise that the visitors scored first in the 28th minute or that the goal came from a free kick as United again struggled from set pieces.
Malacia was penalized for a touchline challenge on Smith and Ryan Christie swung the ball over from the right. Dean Huijsen stole for Zirkzee and rose to power a header past Onana into the top corner. It was the sixth game in a row under Amorim that United got first.
Huijsen was so impressive that day and backed up his goal with some huge defensive stops
Noussair Mazraoui gave away a stupid penalty and Kluivert sent Andre Onana the wrong way
They did their best to get back into the game before half-time, with Bruno Fernandes getting a hat-trick of chances before the airwaves broke.
The first was possibly the best as Dalot and Diallo combined in the penalty area to tee up the United captain, but he dragged his shot just wide of the far post.
When Huijsen played a pass straight into Mainoo’s body seconds later, he created another chance for Fernandes, but Arrizabalaga made a one-handed save and Zirkzee couldn’t quite get to the loose ball.
In the 44th minute, Mainoo again passed to the Portuguese international 25 meters from goal, but his effort flew wide again.
It meant United had eleven shots to Bournemouth’s five in the first period but, crucially, fell behind with the only goal.
Amorim sent on Leny Yoro for Malacia at half-time, with Lisandro Martinez switching to left-back, while Lewis Cook replaced Bournemouth captain Adam Smith who was on a booking.
When Amorim had seen no significant improvement within 10 minutes of the restart, he brought on Hojlund for the ineffective Zirkzee and Alejandro Garnacho for Manuel Ugarte in a move that allowed Fernandes to drop deeper.
But United were two goals behind just after the hour mark when Justin Kluivert won and converted a penalty.
Semenyo scored two minutes after Kluivert’s penalty to stun United fans at Old Trafford
The result was no less than the Cherries deserved as they were the better team on Sunday
Noussair Mazraoui was to blame for United, foolishly running in as Kluivert skipped past him in the penalty area. It was a clear call and referee Craig Pawson had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.
Fernandes tried to get into Kluivert’s head by talking to Onana, but this is a man who scored a hat-trick of penalties against Wolves a few weeks ago and was not impressed for a second, leaving Onana with a cool finish. was sent in the direction.
United barely had time to clear their heads when they conceded a third goal two minutes later, and what a mess it was from their point of view. Fernandes and Mainoo had both intercepted passes and Bournemouth took their chance. Evanilson had far too much time to play a pass behind Dango Ouattara, who showed wit to pull the ball back for Semenyo and he took advantage of a non-existent challenge from Martinez to head home from close range.
United rallied. Garnacho went clear but shot straight at Arrizabalaga, who then made a fine fingertip save to deny Hojlund, and Diallo shot high and wide.
But it was far too little, far too late and at the final whistle there were boos around Old Trafford.