MANCHESTER UNITED 3
BOURNEMOUTH 1
Barclays Premier League | 17 May 2016 | Old Trafford
| Scorers: Rooney 43', Rashford 74', Young 87';
Smalling o.g 90'
Two days later than planned, Manchester United
signed off for the 2015/16 Barclays Premier
League season with a comfortable 3-1 victory over
Bournemouth at Old Trafford.
The Reds knew a point would guarantee entry into
the Europa League group stages and avoid a
qualifying tie in July, and goals from Wayne
Rooney, Marcus Rashford and Ashley Young
ensured it was mission accomplished in that sense.
Of course, this match should have been played 48
hours earlier after Sunday’s security alert had
forced the initial fixture's abandonment and that
had an impact on the crowd inside Old Trafford
with not everyone who was here on Sunday able to
make the rearranged meeting. It was the same XI
for United that was due to start the original match
though, with Marcos Rojo and Matteo Darmian
missing out through injury and illness ruling out
Morgan Schneiderlin.
Before kick-off, David De Gea was presented with
the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award but
neither the Spaniard or his opposite number Adam
Federici had much to do in a quiet opening quarter
of the match.
The best attack of the first period came just after
the half-hour mark when a Rooney free-kick found
an unmarked Michael Carrick in the area, but the
midfielder was unable to make enough contact on
it to trouble Federici.
The Cherries had half a chance eight minutes
before the break when a low cross found Marc
Pugh in the box, but his goalbound effort was well
blocked by Antonio Valencia.
With two minutes left on the clock, the best move
of the first period led to the first goal and Rooney's
100th Old Trafford strike in the Premier League.
The captain started the fine move with a pass out
to the left wing. A neat one-two between Juan
Mata and Anthony Martial led to the latter crossing
for Rooney who, after a nice dummy from Rashford,
slotted home from close range.
HALF-TIME STATISTICS
Possession : United 65% Bournemouth 35%
Shots: United 2 Bournemouth 2
Shots on target: United 1 Bournemouth 0
Corners: United 3 Bournemouth 0
The Cherries were quick out of the blocks after the
restart with Callum Wilson seeing a shot blocked by
Smalling and Dan Gosling firing over, but United
should have had a penalty on 50 minutes when
Mata was clearly tripped by Steve Cook when put
through by Martial, but referee Jonathan Moss
surprisingly waved away the appeals.
The Reds went close to a second goal on 54
minutes when a belting Carrick drive deflected off
Tommy Elphick and onto the bar, with Martial
unable to pounce on the rebound.
After very little goalmouth action in the first 45,
United had upped the attacking threat and the
chances kept coming. Rashford's weaving run led
to a blocked effort from Mata and a deflected shot
just off target from Lingard. The resulting corner
eventually dropped to Valencia who saw a
blistering 35-yard piledriver superbly tipped over by
Federici. Smalling and Mata fashioned further
efforts but the score remained 1-0.
The advantage was finally doubled 16 minutes from
time, however, when that man Rashford fired his
eighth goal in 17 games. Rooney's pinged pass
found the head of Valencia who cushioned the ball
to Rashford to sweep home brilliantly in front of
the Stretford End.
Young came off the bench to take the place of
Martial up front and duly found the net with three
minutes left after being put through by the
excellent Rooney; it was Young's first goal since
United beat Manchester City 4-2 in April 2015.
Despite an unfortunate injury-time own goal by
Smalling, it proved to be a routine victory for the
Reds who took part in a lap of appreciation after
the final whistle to thank the Old Trafford faithful
for their support all season. Now for Wembley!
FULL-TIME STATISTICS
Possession: United 67% Bournemouth 33%
Shots: United 12 Bournemouth 7
Shots on target: United 5 Bournemouth 0
Corners: United 7 Bournemouth 1
TEAMS
United: De Gea; Valencia, Smalling, Blind,
Borthwick-Jackson; Carrick, Rooney, Lingard, Mata
(Herrera 75), Martial (Young 83), Rashford
(Memphis 78).
Subs not used: Romero, Varela, Jones, A.Pereira.
Booked: Mata
Bournemouth: Federici; Francis, Elphick, Cook,
Daniels; Ritchie, Gosling, Surman, Pugh (Afobe 67);
King (Gradel 67), Wilson (Grabban 79).
Subs not used (only six in total) : Holmes, Jordan,
O'Kane.
MATCH REACTION
"In the first half we played slow. I said that at half-
time. In the second half we found pockets. The
wingers were more outside so the pitch was
bigger. It's difficult to guard that space then for
the opponent, and that we did very well. We have
scored brilliant goals." - Louis van Gaal
"It was a difficult game after what happened on
Sunday and with the cup final being on Saturday,
but we went out and did a professional job. We
played some nice stuff and deserved to win." -
Wayne Rooney
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