Bournemouth excellent in Old Trafford loss – Howe

Eddie Howe was full of praise for his “excellent” Bournemouth side despite a 1-0 loss at Manchester United extending their wait for a Premier League win to five games.

United star Romelu Lukaku scored the only goal of the game to leave the Cherries 14th in the table, two points above the relegation zone, ahead of a daunting run of fixtures.

But Bournemouth’s three shots on target eclipsed the two mustered by United, with David de Gea making saves from Charlie Daniels, Ryan Fraser and Jermain Defoe to protect his clean sheet.

And Howe felt his team could have left Old Trafford with a point – or more.

“I’m very disappointed, I thought we were excellent,” Howe told Match of the Day. 

“We created opportunities, our defensive shape was very good and we deserved a lot more today.

“We worked De Gea a lot in the first half but I am disappointed with the goal we conceded, we kept going, ended the game strongly but it wasn’t to be.

“This was a big test mentally, we came with a game plan and they delivered that. The frustration is they don’t get the reward of a win.”

We were the better side on the night, but we leave Old Trafford empty handed…#MUNBOU pic.twitter.com/HoNnIRObVy

— AFC Bournemouth  (@afcbournemouth) December 13, 2017

Out-of-form Bournemouth host Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday before an EFL Cup quarter-final at Chelsea, with a nightmare-before-Christmas sequence completed by a visit to runaway leaders Manchester City on December 23.

But Howe is not concerned about the difficult games coming up as he believes Bournemouth are playing well enough to collect results.

“It’s a tough schedule,” Howe added. “But we are getting the performances and we will go again.”