45 touches, possession lost 8x: Amorim’s Mr.Reliable oversaw horrific disasterclass vs Cherries

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·23. Dezember 2024

45 touches, possession lost 8x: Amorim’s Mr.Reliable oversaw horrific disasterclass vs Cherries

No Manchester United player covered themself in glory while the side fell to a 3-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon.

Indeed, United were outplayed by the Cherries on their home turf for a second consecutive season, with last term’s M16 contest also resulting in a 3-0 scoreline to the visitors.

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United will now spend Christmas in the bottom half of the table for the first time in Premier League history. They sit 13th-placed and six points away from the Champions League places, which doesn’t seem that significant of a gap on paper, but more performances like yesterday will only make European qualification a more distant dream with each passing gameweek.

A night to forget for Noussair Mazraoui

(Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Since 2024/2025 got underway, one Red has been widely praised for his seamless transition to the English top-flight: Noussair Mazraoui. The fact he cost only £12.8 million up-front looks like a remarkably shrewd piece of business from the Red Devils, and he has played an integral role since swapping Munich for Manchester in July.

His showing left a lot to be desired over the weekend, however. Ruben Amorim’s reliable defender started alongside Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez in the new-look back-three, yet proceeded to take only 45 touches in the entire 90 minutes he played.

Mazraoui would also go on to essentially gift Bournemouth their second goal after he brought down Justin Kluivert inside the area, prompting Craig Pawson to blow his whistle and point to the spot. Kluivert swiftly converted the penalty before Antoine Semenyo extended his side’s lead to three only two minutes later.

As well as the spot-kick, Mazraoui lost possession eight times in total throughout the game, making it no surprise Andoni Iraola’s men were able to have another seven shots at Andre Onana’s goal outside of their three finishes.

Next up for United is a trip to the Molineux to face Wolverhampton Wanderers on Boxing Day in a 5.3-pm kick-off.