Resurgent Reds find top gear as Howe’s strugglers face drop
FOR most of the last seven years, Manchester United and their fans have looked to the past. They have dreamed of the glory days of Sir Alex Ferguson and shuddered at the memory of the misadventures they endured under David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho. For one reason or another, they have been unable to move on.
For the first time since 2013, that is changing. United are learning to love the idea of what lies ahead at last. Suddenly, there is the kind of excitement at the club about what the future holds that has not been seen here since the Class of ’92 emerged from United’s youth team and helped to take the Premier League by storm.
United are still a long way away from emulating that kind of success but the fearlessness of youth is working its magic again. Bruno Fernandes has rightly been given the credit for transforming their season since his arrival in January but this demolition of a struggling Bournemouth team sinking fast towards relegation was driven by the brilliance of Mason Greenwood.
Greenwood is only 18 but he is on the verge of eclipsing Wayne Rooney’s record for the most league goals scored by any player under the age of 19 in a season. Rooney scored nine for Everton in 2003-04. Greenwood’s brace against Eddie Howe’s side took his league tally to eight and boosted United’s hopes of earning a Champions League spot.
It was the way he scored them, too. One with his right foot, one with his left. Both brilliant, spectacular finishes. It feels as if the world is at both his feet. Marcus Rashford — who is now the grand old age of 22 — scored his 20th goal of the season with a penalty. Anthony Martial curled in a beauty, too. United have now gone 16 games without defeat and even if the top honours have slipped out of reach, optimism has returned to their grasp.
Greenwood’s rise shows no sign of abating, with United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer saying he is ‘one of the best — if not the best — finisher I have worked with and seen’.
Asked if he had known a young player with such power and precision, Solskjaer added: ‘No, I don’t think I have.
‘I have seen Wayne Rooney at the same age and Mason is a specialist finisher and specialist goalscorer. He knows exactly what to do with the ball when he’s on the pitch.
‘If he shoots, he will score. He is going to get better and his general play has improved.
‘The energy and confidence of the team is fantastic. That performance in front of fans would be six or seven goals, definitely, because our fans give us extra energy.’
United are still a long way behind Liverpool and Manchester City but after one false dawn at the start of the reign of Solskjaer, they finally appear to be on the right track now. They are not back to what they were. Not by a long chalk. But they are, at least, moving beyond the point of mourning for what they have lost. Now they can dream of what may be to come.
They still have work to do. The two goals they conceded here were a defensive shambles. They need a centre-back with pace and quality and another top-class midfielder even to enter the conversation with Liverpool and City.
They were fortunate, too, that they ran into a Bournemouth side whose confidence is at rock-bottom. They have not won a point in their four games since the restart and as sides like West Ham and Brighton edge towards safety, Bournemouth are struggling to see a way out.
However, the Cherries took a shock lead when Junior Stanislas nutmegged Harry Maguire, skipped away from the England defender and then drove the ball past United keeper David de Gea.
But just before half an hour had elapsed, the home side were level. Rashford played the ball in from the right to Fernandes on the edge of the box. Fernandes let the ball run and then slid a pass into the path of Greenwood, who finished emphatically.
Three minutes later, United were ahead. After Bournemouth’s Adam Smith had been penalised for handball inside the area, Rashford slotted home from the spot.
United looked to have put the game out of reach in first-half stoppage