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Man Utd 5-2 Bournemouth
by Simon Williams
at Old Trafford
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER refused to compare the rise of teenage sensation Mason Greenwood to Manchester United players of the past, following his dominant performance on Saturday.
The 18-year-old netted twice in the 5-2 win over Bournemouth, at an almost empty Old Trafford, to become the youngest player to score 15 goals for United in all competitions since Norman Whiteside in May 1983.
The Cherries took a shock lead after 15 minutes when Junior Stanislas slipped the ball through the legs of Harry Maguire before beating David De Gea at his near post.
But Greenwood levelled the score just before the half-hour mark before Marcus Rashford scored from the penalty spot, and Anthony Martial increased the home side’s lead with a stunning curled effort in first-half injury time.
Bournemouth started the second half with purpose and were awarded a penalty of their own, which was converted by Joshua King. But the home side turned up the pressure and Greenwood’s second — and a Bruno Fernandes free kick — doused any hope of a comeback.
It was the performance and goals of Greenwood that would have been worthy of applause by a capacity crowd — the first a powerful left-footed strike before he rifled in with his right for the second.
After the game, Solskjaer was full of praise. “We’ll always come back to his finishing because the goals he scored were exceptional and the timing of all of them were great for us,” he said of Greenwood.
“But his general overall play is improving, his fitness is improving and his understanding of his position is improving more and more. I’m delighted with the goal that he scores, right foot or left foot, it doesn’t matter. Now it’s just about getting the headers in.”
When asked about similarities between Greenwood and two notable former United players, the manager was reluctant to make comparisons.
“I don’t want to compare Mason to Wazza [Wayne Rooney] or Cristiano [Ronaldo]. I don’t think that’s fair,” Solskjaer said.
“I think the boy will create his own career and he’s doing it in his own way. They had fantastic careers, both of them, and I’m sure Mason, if he keeps doing the right thing, making good decisions, he’ll have a fantastic career as well.”
