Cherries taste success
While United may be suffering, the same can’t be said of Bournemouth recently. Despite Chelsea being out of form, the Blues were expected to at least win, even if not comfortably, against the newly-promoted side who have been hit by several long-term injuries this season. It looked as though all their hard work in winning promotion was to meet automatic promotion, when Tyrone Mings, Callum Wilson and Max Gradel all suffered long-term injuries, but the Cherries’ victory over the Blues was to be followed up with success at home to United.
If Van Gaal has been losing sleep over United’s form recently, it wasn’t about to get any easier when Junior Stanislas netted after two minutes, before Marouane Fellaini’s equaliser was ruled out by Joshua King’s 54th-minute winner. Two back-to-back victories for boss Eddie Howe, against top-four opposition would likely have been laughed off by the Cherries manager at the beginning of the season, but here they were again defying the odds.
Bournemouth may be just three points off the relegation zone, but they do sit 14th – still a point and a place ahead of last week’s victims Chelsea, even if they do have a game in hand over the Cherries, with the Blues heading to in-form Leicester on Monday.
