After the culmination of their dramatic derby win last Sunday, Manchester United were brought back down to earth with a heavy home defeat to Bournemouth in the Premier League.

Ruben Amorim and his team experienced completely different fates over the last seven days. There was euphoria when two late goals secured a 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium a week ago, but now they have suffered back-to-back disappointments as they exited the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup after a seven-goal thriller at Tottenham came through this dismantling.

United, with Marcus Rashford still not in the matchday squad, struggled to create clear-cut chances. Bournemouth took the lead when Dean Huijsen shot highest from a long free-kick and fired a header past Andre Onana, continuing United’s problems defending set pieces (more on this below).

The visitors doubled their lead around the hour mark after Noussair Mazraoui brought down Justin Kluivert in the penalty area with a rash tackle and Kluivert converted the penalty. Things got even worse for United a few minutes later when Antoine Semenyo made it 3-0 with a precise finish.

The defeat leaves United 13th in the 20-team table, while Bournemouth are fifth.

Mark Critchley analyzes the key points of discussion.

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Bournemouth is a blueprint for what United want to be

Well-trained in their tasks, aggressive in possession, more than the sum of their strength: Bournemouth is everything United hasn’t been since the start of last season, everything Amorim wants to achieve.

This is the worst result of the new United manager’s six-week tenure so far, but should come as no surprise.

Some of the underlying numbers rate Andoni Iraola’s South Coast side as the third-best team in the league this season. They had already beaten Arsenal, Manchester City and Spurs. However, all of these victories came at Vitality Stadium. This is their first Big Six appearance away from home in the 2024/25 season, in fact their first since exactly the same result, at the same stadium, in the same month last year.

For Bournemouth to repeat such a result shows how much progress Iraola is making in his second season there, how little has changed at United in the meantime and how big the task Amorim has ahead of him.

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Why do United struggle to prevent set-piece goals?

Another week, another goal conceded from a set piece for United. It’s becoming a glaring Achilles’ heel, one that has come to the fore under Amorim’s short period of observation, undermining her out-of-possession improvements under him in open play.

United’s defense has seen them play three of the most effective set pieces in the division recently. Huijsen’s goal was Bournemouth’s seventh goal of the season from a deal ball situation – the second most in the Premier League alongside Nottingham Forest. Only Arsenal have scored more goals from set pieces. These are three of United’s last four league opponents.

But even in that context, it’s hard not to question their current approach to set pieces, as Joshua Zirkzee – a tall but not aerial dominant striker – marked Bournemouth’s 195cm tall first goalscorer.

This season there are a total of nine goals conceded from set pieces – only third-to-last Wolverhampton Wanderers have conceded as many – but also five in a short space of time. Huijsen’s goal here followed Josko Gvardiol scoring for City last Sunday, Nikola Milenkovic for Forest the weekend before and Arsenal duo Jurrien Timber and William Saliba in the middle of the week before that.

This issue needs to be resolved quickly.

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How do they stop the trend of cashing in first?

Just as worrying as United’s habit of conceding goals from set pieces may be their new habit of falling 1-0 behind. For the sixth straight game in three competitions, they faced a mountain to climb – and this time they hadn’t packed their crampons.

You can’t climb mountains every three days anyway. For as spirited as the comebacks in Pilsen and the Etihad were, despite Thursday’s spirited defeat at Tottenham, every team will suffer at some point if they continue to try too hard.

It’s not so much about starting slowly – United don’t always concede first, especially not at the start of a game, as they came into the game without a goal at half-time against Arsenal and Viktoria Plzen – but they have from the first minute Struggle to prevail over opponents.

It’s a marked departure from the quick starts in Amorim’s first two games against Ipswich and Bodo/Glimt. But even in the second of these games, United had to come from behind.

It’s another worrying trend.

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What did Amorim say?

“We created a lot of chances to score,” Amorim said in his post-match press conference. “After the third goal it’s really difficult. It’s as if everyone in the stadium is suffering – the fans, the players, everyone. It’s a hard moment. But we have to face it and then prepare for the next game.

“We didn’t lose because of set pieces. We lost because we created more chances but didn’t score a goal. At this moment everything is against us, they can score.”

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What’s next for Manchester United?

Thursday, December 26th: Wolves (A), Premier League, 5:30pm GMT, 12:30pm ET

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(Top photo: Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Images)