Man United left to rue profligacy
PREMIER LEAGUE Ibrahimovic misses penalty as hosts fail to capitalise on oneman advantage
Poor finishing cost Manchester United a chance to move into the Premier League’s top four as striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic missed a penalty in a feisty 1-1 draw against 10-man Bournemouth on Saturday.
United stayed sixth on 49 points while Bournemouth, who had Andrew Surman sent off on the stroke of halftime for pushing Ibrahimovic, stayed 14th with 27 points.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho made no excuses for a disjointed performance after lifting the League Cup with a dramatic 3-2 win over Southampton last weekend for his first major trophy at Old Trafford.
“What happened was that we played phenomenal in the first half and should have been winning 3-0 or 4-0 — then it ended up 1-1,” he told the BBC. “Who can I blame? Ourselves. Nobody else. We missed big chances. We felt pressure of the clock running down and lost the quality of our attacking football.”
Ibrahimovic, the two-goal hero against Southampton, endured a miserable afternoon and was lucky to stay on the pitch after a three-way fracas involving Bournemouth’s Tyrone Mings and Surman.
Mings, also fortunate not to be sent off, appeared to stamp on Ibrahimovic’s head and the towering Swede retaliated seconds later with an elbow to the defender’s jaw before Surman shoved him to the ground.
Referee Kevin Friend showed Surman his second yellow card at the end of an ill-tempered first half littered with fierce tackles.
Bournemouth goalkeeper Artur Boruc produced a string of excellent saves either side of Marcos Rojo’s first Premier League goal which put United ahead.
Riyad Mahrez reproduced his brilliance of last season by scoring from a jinking solo run Saturday to help Leicester recover for a 3-1 win against Hull in a match between two teams battling relegation. The Algeria winger cut inside from the right wing, deceived Hull’s defense with three quick turns and a shimmy outside the area, before driving a right-foot shot inside the near post in the 59th minute to make it 2-1.
Liverpool put up a superlative first half display to outshine Arsenal 3-1 and dent the club’s hopes of challenging for the title. Roberto Firmino (ninth minute) and Sadio Mane (40th) on Saturday gave the hosts a 2-0 lead before Danny Welbeck (57th) reduced Arsenal’s deficit to one. But Georginio Wijnaldum (90+1) sealed the game in Liverpool’s favour.