Review & Ratings: Mason Greenwood shows his ability with two goals against Bournemouth; Fernandes with one goal and two assists

Manchester United beat Bournemouth 5-2 at the Theatre of Dreams in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, the first 3pm kick off that has been shown (involving United) on television. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be happy with this victory, despite Bournemouth scoring an embarrassing goal at the start of the match. Mason Greenwood scored twice plus one for each of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, and Bruno Fernandes.

Despite a good start for United, Bournemouth took the lead in the 16th minute through Junior Stanislas which made Eddie Howe happy. The Cherries threw four players into the box, the ball dropped to Stanislas who took advantage of some poor defending by Aaron Wan-Bissaka. He then nutmegged Harry Maguire and squeezed the ball between David De Gea and the near post to put Bournemouth ahead in the match. 1-0.

It took United 14 minutes to get back into the game, equalising though Mason Greenwood in the 29th minute of the match, the 18-year-old scoring his 14th goal of the season. Marcus Rashford bust away from Diego Rico, despite the latter claiming a foul. He moved inside to Bruno Fernandes who kept up the high-pace of the attack and toe-poked the ball into Greenwood’s path, hitting the back of the net from 15-yards. 1-1.

United found themselves ahead in the game after Bournemouth gave United a penalty after Adam Smith dangled his hand in the box, hitting the ball. Rashford took the penalty in the 35th minute, squeezing the ball past Aaron Ramsdale, who guessed the right direction but Rashford’s power and accuracy was just too great for the goalkeeper to make the save. 20 goals for Rashford now. 2-1 to United. Eddie who?

Two minutes into stoppage time at the end of the half, United scored their third goal of the game through Anthony Martial, who had a quiet first half against Bournemouth but popped up off the left, cut inside and opened up from 22-yards. The Frenchman took aim for the top corner and caught the ball sweetly. Ramsdale flew through the air to make the save but got nowhere near it. 20 goals for the Frenchman too. 3-1.

It was a good start to the second half by Bournemouth. Eric Bailly, who replaced Victor Lindelof at half time was adjudged to have handled the ball, albeit hitting his shoulder with Mike Dean giving the penalty. VAR gave it too. Josh King scored the resulting penalty for Bournemouth, bringing the score to 3-2. Moment later, that had the ball in the back of the net again, 3-3, but the flag was up, luckily for United.

United restored their two goal lead in the 54th minute of the match with Greenwood scoring his second goal of the game and his 15th goal of the season. It was what United needed, putting Bournemouth back in their place. The 18-year-old scored with his weaker right foot. It seemed he was going nowhere down the right but took a strike on goal with his right foot. He generated some power, which was extraordinary. 4-2.

That was not it for United though as Bruno Fernandes, who as assisted two goals today already got in on the scoresheet too. United won a free-kick from around 20-yards. Fernandes pulled rank and took the kick and smacked a curling effort into the far corner. It started as a good match for Bournemouth but turned into a great game for United. Seven goals for Fernandes and six assists. 5-2 to United.

Solskjaer made his second substitution of the match with Fred replacing Nemanja Matic in the 67th minute, opting to keep the Serbian fresh for the visit to Villa Park next week with United still looking to break into the top four this season. Solskjaer then made two more changes with Juan Mata and Odion Ighalo replacing Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial. It was a good win for United. Aston Villa next for United.

[player_ratings id=”96328″]

Goals: Mason Greenwood 29′, 54′, Marcus Rashford 35′ (penalty), Anthony Martial 45+2′, Bruno Fernandes 59′; Junior Stanislas 16′, Joshua King 49′ (penalty)

Assists: Bruno Fernandes 29′, 45+2′, Nemanja Matic 54′; Joshua King 16′

Manchester United: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof (Bailly 46′), Maguire, Shaw; Matic, Pogba; Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford; Martial

Substitutes Not Used: Romero; Williams; Mata, Pereira, Fred, James, McTominay; Ighalo

Bookings: Jefferson Lerma 31′

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I support Manchester United, the greatest English football team to have ever existed. Bruno Fernandes is the latest in a long line of players with great ability to play for the club. I idolised Bryan Robson, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, and Eric Cantona growing up.