Man United 0-3 Bournemouth: Andoni Iraola’s side are full of festive cheer as they inflict back to back home defeats on Ruben Amorim with second half rout at Old Trafford

Ruben Amorim warned there would be short-term pain to achieve long-term gain at Manchester United, and on a windy and rather wild afternoon at Old Trafford, Bournemouth piled on the hurt again.

If their 3-0 win here at Old Trafford a year ago came as something of shock, it’s a sign of the deep-seated malaise that Amorim has been brought in to cure at United that this kind of result should no longer be a surprise. 

‘Man United, it’s happening again,’ sang the jubilant Bournemouth fans as United suffered a recurring nightmare before Christmas. It would be remiss not to give credit to Andoni Iraola’s side who were excellent and are now in fifth place in the Premier League.

Three days after going three down at Tottenham and rallying in a brave 4-3 Carabao Cup exit, United never looked like turning this one around. 

They will be in the bottom half of the table for the first time since 1989 after a fourth defeat in six games under their new head coach. 

Amorim’s painful prediction has become an awful reality.

Dean Huijsen (left) headed the Cherries in front and they never looked back as they won 3-0

Justin Kluivert (middle) scored a penalty before Antoine Semenyo (right) sealed the victory

He made six changes to the team that lost at Spurs on Thursday night, bringing back Andre Onana, Tyrell Malacia, Harry Maguire, Kobbie Mainoo, Amad Diallo and Joshua Zirkzee, but there was still no place in the squad for Marcus Rashford.

‘We have to manage the players, said Amorim. ‘You can see, we’ve had injuries before half-time in our last two games. 

‘In the last game I felt a real improvement for the first time. We have to maintain the consistency in the performance. We know the supporters want us to control the game, and we have to be really smart against this team.’

Controlling anything in the windy conditions was a challenge in itself, as Diogo Dalot discovered in the opening moments when the ball almost blew away from him.

It contributed to a messy game that started brightly for United when Adam Smith intercepted Zirkzee’s pass in the box and inadvertently knocked the ball to Diallo who forced a smart save from Kepa Arrizabalaga with his low shot.

But Bournemouth began to gain a foothold in the game, Onana saving from Antoine Semeyo shortly afterwards. 

It was no surprise that the visitors scored first in the 28th minute or that the goal came from a free kick as United struggled at set-pieces once again.

Malacia was penalised for a touchline challenge on Smith and Ryan Christie swung the ball over from the right. Dean Huijsen stole in ahead of Zirkzee and rose to glance a header beyond Onana into the top corner. It was the sixth game in a row under Amorim that United have conceded first.

Huijsen was so impressive on the day, backing up his goal with some huge defensive stops

Noussair Mazraoui gave away a silly penalty and Kluivert sent Andre Onana the wrong way

They did their best to get back in the game before half-time, with Bruno Fernandes having a hat-trick of chances before ether break. 

The first was possibly the best as Dalot and Diallo combined in the box to tee up the United captain, but he dragged his shot just wide of the far post.

When Huijsen played a pass straight into Mainoo’s body seconds later, he set up Fernandes with another opportunity but Arrizabalaga saved one handed and Zirkzee couldn’t quite get to the loose ball.

Then in the 44th minute, Mainoo slipped another pass to the Portugal international 25 yards from goal but his effort flew wide again. 

It meant that United had 11 shots to Bournemouth’s five in the first period but, crucially, trailed by the only goal.

Amorim sent on Leny Yoro for Malacia at half-time, with Lisandro Martinez switching to left-back, while Lewis Cook replaced Bournemouth captain Adam Smith who was on a booking. 

When Amorim hadn’t seen any significant improvement within 10 minutes of the restart, he sent on Hojlund for the ineffective Zirkzee and Alejandro Garnacho for Manuel Ugarte in a move which allowed Fernandes to drop deeper.

But United found themselves two goals down just after the hour mark when Justin Kluivert won and converted a penalty. 

Semenyo scored two minutes after Kluivert’s spot kick to stun United fans at Old Trafford

The result was no less than the Cherries deserved as they were the better team on Sunday

Noussair Mazraoui was the culprit for United, foolishly lunging in as Kluivert skipped past him in the box. It was a clear-cut decision and referee Craig Pawson didn’t hesitate to point to the spot.

Fernandes tried to get in Kluivert’s head by talking to Onana but this is a man who scored a hat-trick of penalties against Wolves a few weeks ago and wasn’t fazed in the slightest, sending Onana the wrong way with a cool finish.

United barely had time to clear their heads when they conceded a third two minutes later, and what a mess it was from their point of view. Fernandes and Mainoo both had passes intercepted, and Bournemouth seized on their opportunity. Evanilson had far too much time to slip a pass in behind for Dango Ouattara who showed presence of mind to pull the ball back for Semenyo and he took advantage of a non-existent challenge from Martinez to sweep home from close-range.

United rallied. Garnacho went clear but fired straight at Arrizabalaga who then made a fine fingertip save to deny Hojlund, and Diallo fired high and wide.

But it was far too little and far too late and there were boos around Old Trafford at the final whistle.