Joshua King stunned his former club Manchester United as his second-half goal earned AFC Bournemouth a famous 2-1 Barclays Premier League win.
After a 3-2 defeat at Wolfsburg that eliminated United from the UEFA Champions League, there was no respite for the 13-times Barclays Premier League champions at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday. King, who came through the youth ranks at Old Trafford, turned home Matt Ritchie’s corner to earn the hosts another notable scalp after their shock 1-0 victory at champions Chelsea last time out.
AFC Bournemouth had taken an early lead when Junior Stanislas scored direct from a corner. United responded well and Anthony Martial missed a great chance before Marouane Fellaini made it 1-1 by half-time with a scrappy equaliser.
But after falling behind for a second time to King’s effort, United struggled to get level for a second time and Glenn Murray, a substitute, missed two gilt-edged chances to put the match beyond doubt.
It mattered little as a jubilant home crowd celebrated three valuable points, while United suffered a fifth successive match without a win in all competitions.
With Chris Smalling and Matteo Darmian joining a growing United injury list, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and Guillermo Varela made their first Barclays Premier League starts in a makeshift defence.
AFC Bournemouth made life difficult for the visitors from the off, but the opener came in unusual circumstances as Stanislas’s whipped corner from the left sailed over David de Gea into the far corner.
United’s riposte was impressive and Artur Boruc made a fine double save to keep out Fellaini’s point-blank volley before tipping Paddy McNair’s follow-up header wide.
Martial side-footed wide after pouncing on Stanislas’ backpass, but United were level in the 24th minute. Michael Carrick’s excellent pass over the top was prodded against Boruc by Memphis Depay and Fellaini was on hand to bundle in the rebound.
Van Gaal was forced into a change just past the half-hour when Jesse Lingard limped off to be replaced by Andreas Pereira.
The second half burst into life in the 53rd minute when Simon Francis ghosted through the United defence to force De Gea into a near-post save.
From the resulting corner Ritchie kept his delivery low and King moved into space to steer home from close range, with no visiting defender close enough to stop him.
United struggled to muster a response and Murray could have made it 3-1 when he jinked inside McNair, only to blaze a half-volley over. The striker was similarly wayward with another close-range effort soon after.
Those misses did not prove costly as AFC Bournemouth saw out the remaining minutes with little cause for alarm, moving above champions Chelsea and into 14th.
source:premierleague.com
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 