Manchester United 4-4 Bournemouth: Eight different scorers in Old Trafford classic

Manchester United and Bournemouth played out a thrilling 4-4 draw at Old Trafford, with the hosts squandering three separate leads as eight different players scored.

In what was surely the standout game of the Premier League season so far, United led 1-0, 2-1 and 4-3 yet failed to see out the victory, with Bournemouth having also led 3-2 at one stage.

Ruben Amorim’s side started brightly and went ahead through Amad Diallo – who was playing his final game before departing for the Africa Cup of Nations – in the 13th minute.

Bournemouth improved after Marcus Tavernier missed a headed chance, though, and they drew level in the 40th minute, with Antoine Semenyo finishing neatly after Luke Shaw’s giveaway.

United restored their lead in first-half stoppage time as Casemiro’s far-post header squirmed past Djordje Petrovic, but just six minutes into the second half, they found themselves behind.

Tavernier slipped Evanilson in to make it 2-2 a mere 38 seconds after the restart, then whipped a ferocious free-kick beyond Senne Lammens’ grasp to make it 3-2.

But after a wild miss from Bryan Mbeumo, Bruno Fernandes curled a fine free-kick of his own into the top-right corner, then Matheus Cunha latched onto a deflected centre from Benjamin Sesko to make it 4-3.

However, United could not cling on as Bournemouth substitute Junior Kroupi finished in the 84th minute, and David Brooks missed two chances to snatch victory for the visitors in stoppage time.

Data Debrief: Goals galore, but a point apiece

This was just the third instance of United scoring four or more goals in a Premier League match they failed to win, having drawn 4-4 with Everton in April 2012 and 5-5 with West Brom in May 2013 – the latter in Alex Ferguson’s final game in charge.

The tone was set in a breathless first half that saw United fire off 17 shots, accumulate 2.49 expected goals (xG) and amass 30 touches in the opposition area.

All of those figures are the most by any team in the first half of a Premier League match this season.

But Bournemouth refused to go away quietly, and they are now the first team in English top-flight history to score three or more goals on three successive trips to United. Their four-goal haul came from 1.92 xG, demonstrating how efficient they were with their finishing.

The two standout goals were dead-ball efforts from Fernandes and Tavernier, and this was the first Premier League game to see both teams score a direct free-kick since Queens Park Rangers versus Wigan Athletic in January 2012 (Akos Buzsaky and Hugo Rodallega).