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Our first-ever victory over Chelsea sees United book a spot in the final of the FA Cup for a second consecutive season.

“One thing was Harry Maguire had an issue in the first half and for us he overcame [it]” Ten Hag told reporters in his post-match press conference, when asked about how his side struggled to match Bournemouth’s intensity before the break.

“During the game, he recovered from it and you see in the second half, he was up there and then he can express his leadership, he can express his defending qualities and his [ability] on the ball. 

“We needed that in this back four, we lost some balls in areas we shouldn’t lose them. For instance, the first goal, the setup was good, but in that area, you should never lose the ball.”

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CHASING A CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLACE

“This result is not enough. We know that. We know when you’re coming into the final stage of the season, this is not enough. And the truth is, today, we didn’t deserve more. If you allow them so many chances in the first half, then as a team, you don’t deserve more. You have to take control. Don’t allow them the chances. Take control of the game and score goals for yourself.

“We, in this moment, with all the problems we have, we play to our levels and we can  play very good to our levels. But you have  to do it over the course of the game until stoppage-time. In the last four games, we drop points where we often were in winning positions. Not today. We were in losing positions and we fought back.”

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ACADEMY PRESENCE ON THE BENCH

Eighteen-year-old Ethan Wheatley was the latest fresh face among United’s substitutes, earning a place on the bench alongside fellow young Reds Harry Amass, Habeeb Ogunneye and Omari Forson at Bournemouth. Not only was there an Academy presence on the sidelines, but on the pitch too, with graduates Alejandro Garnacho, Kambwala and Kobbie Mainoo all registering another start on the Premier League stage. Although it is a proud sight for the club, continuing a proud tradition of awarding youth opportunities to shine, Ten Hag continues to make it clear that these chances are earned, not given.

THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RACE

With Aston Villa not in action until Sunday afternoon, away at Arsenal, United have chipped the gap on the fifth-placed Villans to 10 points with six games to go. It remains to be seen whether Premier League clubs will need to be in the top four or five for a place in next season’s UEFA Champions League, although Villa and Tottenham in those potentially decisive fifth and fourth positions respectively do remain level on points. That is after Spurs were beaten 4-0 at Newcastle in the day’s early kick-off at St James’ Park.

OUR BRILLIANT TRAVELLING FANS

The United supporters have clocked up the miles since the international break, travelling to Brentford, Chelsea and now Bournemouth, and while they have not been able to celebrate taking three points home from those trips, their dedication, loyalty and passion has continued to shine through. It is something appreciated by players and staff too – the Reds handed out their shirts to fans at Brentford last month and spent time after the full-time whistle tonight applauding our away contingent that made the long trip to the south coast.

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STRIKER RECRUITMENT
“I think it would help [to bring in a forward], as I always had, in this plan we constructed, that we should have had enough goals. If you count them for the season, you count on goals from Rashy [Marcus Rashford]. And, last year, you scored 30. Yeah. You count on goals for Martial. And I have to point [out]. In my first season, he played very well and also in very important games. He had a high impact on our performances. And then bringing a goalscorer, Rasmus Hojlund in, that should have been enough goals.”

SWITCHING OFF LATE IN GAMES
“No they don’t [lose focus]. They don’t forget what they’re doing. And if you see positive, after we got it to 2-2 against Liverpool, and I think it was extra-time was it seven or eight minutes. So there were another 16 or 17 minutes to play and Liverpool went full for it and we survived. So I have seen many moments, also in this season, where we can survive such moments. Just do your job, know your job, do your job, follow rules, follow the rules and the principles and we will survive such moments.”

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