MANCHESTER, England, Dec 15 : Bournemouth’s Eli Junior Kroupi struck late to salvage a point for his side in a 4-4 draw with Manchester United on Monday, capping a Premier League thriller that swung wildly from start to finish.
Ruben Amorim’s men squandered the chance to move level with fourth-place Chelsea in the standings, and instead are sixth on 26 points. Bournemouth are 13th on 21 points.
United looked set for victory after Bruno Fernandes, with a stunning freekick, and Matheus Cunha struck two minutes apart in the second half to make it 4-3.
Bournemouth’s 19-year-old substitute Kroupi silenced United’s fans just five minutes later when Alejandro Jimenez found him on the edge of the box in the 84th minute.
United goalkeeper Senne Lammens made an instinctive save with his right foot to stop a diving header from David Brooks in the sixth minute of stoppage time to preserve the draw.
Each side had nine shots on target in a game that will go down as a classic, with end-to-end action. As the final whistle blew after 100 exhausting minutes, it was hard to say whether either team left feeling satisfied.
“I suppose for the neutrals it’s been a nice game,” Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola told Sky Sports. “It had everything. Moments where you think it’s a loss. Moments where you think we have this one, we are comfortable.
“You didn’t even know if we were happy finishing the game or give us one minute more.”
United’s Amad Diallo opened the scoring with a close-range header in the 13th minute after goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic initially saved Diogo Dalot’s cross.
However, the visitors gradually began to find their feet and equalised through Antoine Semenyo in the 40th minute.
Casemiro restored United’s lead with a header from a corner on the stroke of halftime, gifted by goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic’s fumbled save attempt.
But they were pegged back again when Evanilson struck seconds after the break while thousands of fans at Old Trafford had yet to return to their seats.
Marcus Tavernier scored with a low freekick in the 52nd minute to put Bournemouth ahead but United fought back, with Fernandes curling in a set-piece of his own in the 77th minute to level.
Cunha thought he had scored the winner in the 79th when Benjamin Sesko sent the ball in from the left wing and the Brazilian slotted home. But the night had one more twist as Kroupi had the last word.
United, who had 17 shots in the first half, rued the chances they did not put away in a key game before Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo leave for the Africa Cup of Nations.
“It’s really disappointing,” United boss Ruben Amorim told the BBC. “We are really disappointed. Crazy game. It might look like we lost the two points in the second half but I think we lost them in the first half.
“We dominated and created so many chances. We had to go to halftime with a different result. In the end we deserved more.”
