One Manchester United star finally proved himself against Bournemouth, with Jamie Carragher praising his performance throughout the fixture.
Rúben Amorim named Bryan Mbeumo and Amad in his starting XI despite doubts over their availability due to the Africa Cup of Nations, as Manchester United welcomed Bournemouth to Old Trafford on Monday evening.
The hosts made a bright start to the Premier League clash and took an early lead when Amad powered home a close-range header. Bournemouth soon grew into the contest, however, and Antoine Semenyo brought the visitors level to swing the momentum.
United regained control just before the break when Casemiro ghosted in at the back post to head home a Bruno Fernandes corner. Any hopes of building on that advantage were quickly dashed after the restart, as Evanilson struck almost immediately to restore parity.
Bournemouth then moved ahead through a superb Marcus Tavernier free-kick, prompting Amorim to turn to his bench. The introductions of Kobbie Mainoo, Benjamin Šeško and Lisandro Martínez injected new energy, and Fernandes responded with a magnificent free-kick to make it 3–3 with 15 minutes remaining.
The drama continued as Matheus Cunha edged United back in front moments later, only for Eli Junior Kroupi to equalise once again with a composed finish. Two late saves from Senne Lammens ensured the points were shared, leaving United frustrated after twice surrendering the lead late on.
Cunha’s fantastic performance
If you were to look at the statistics, you would think that Cunha hasn’t had the best of starts to life at his new club after joining from Wolves over the summer.
There have been positive signs from the Brazilian all season, especially in United’s famous 2-1 win over Liverpool earlier in the season, where, despite not contributing in terms of goals and assists, he was pivotal in the victory at Anfield, being branded a “beautiful player”.
Against Bournemouth, however, the 26-year-old finally lived up to the promise, delivering the big performance that the United faithful have been waiting for, creating a number of goal-scoring opportunities before acting quickly to score what many thought should have been the winning goal.
Jamie Carragher certainly agreed with this, saying after the game that “Matheus Cunha was fantastic throughout.”
Pressure on Cunha to perform
Going into this game, it was uncertain whether Amad or Mbeumo would feature due to FIFA’s unclear guidelines on when the deadline is for players to depart for AFCON.
It came as a great relief that the pair were able to take part in the game. While Mbeumo had an unnaturally quiet game, Amad shone when given the license to play further forward, and the pair will be a huge loss for the next month.
The two have created great chemistry down the right flank this season, being United’s main route when attacking. With Šeško still looking to get back up to pace after his injury, the onus will be on Cunha to be the difference maker in games.
Having assisted against Wolverhampton Wanderers, followed by his goal against Bournemouth, the 26-year-old is starting to show the form that he can be relied on to deliver the goals and assists.
Given how tight the race for the top four is, United must stay in the race for European places and not drift away, having lost two of their most influential players, with his great display coming at a perfect time.
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