Manchester United battled to a thrilling 4-4 draw against Bournemouth at Old Trafford on Monday evening but Andoni Iraola has claimed that the Red Devils had a helping hand from the referee
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola bemoaned a “clear mistake” from the referee that led to Manchester United’s opener in their crazy 4-4 draw at Old Trafford. Both the Cherries and the Red Devils had led at one point during the game, with Eli Junior Kroupi scoring late on to secure a point for the visitors.
And despite their fightback and the thrilling nature of the game, Iraola claims that United shouldn’t have even taken the lead in the first half. Amad had headed home to give his side the lead after a controversial free-kick was awarded for an apparent handball.
And the Bournemouth boss believes that decision may have been wrong. Speaking after his side’s draw, the Spaniard said: “I think it’s a clear mistake. Above the armband. It’s not a foul.
“We struggled in the first 15-20 minutes. We made some adjustments but we were losing 1-0. From there I was quite happy with how the game was.
“The last two were massive chances, great saves from Lammens. We take a point. We can use a lot of good things from today but things to correct.”
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And while Iraola claimed that the refereeing mistake did not help his side’s cause, he has also pointed to Manchester United’s system causing them issues. The Bournemouth boss suggested that Ruben Amorim had slightly tweaked his approach, catching the south coast side off guard.
He added: “I think it is the same system they always play but they adapt depending on who you put to mark them. In the end, it’s a very flexible system. Depending on the players, the outside players, depending if you mark them with a full-back, they will go lower, and then with a winger, they go higher.
“Also, with the positions in the middle, the six and eight, Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes and, even us, we were changing, it’s two against two, but it’s not two against two.
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“Until we match up well for us, I think we suffer in the first 15 or 20 minutes, something like this, and after when we put Alex [Scott] there, we felt much more solid without the ball. And when you feel solid, normally you also attack better.”
Monday evening’s draw at Old Trafford leaves Bournemouth sitting 13th in the Premier League on 21 points ahead of this weekend’s clash with struggling Burnley. United in the meantime are sixth and two points off the top four ahead of taking on Aston Villa in their next outing.
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