United struggle to make themselves at home as fortress of last season falls

UNITED are perpetually stuck in a cycle that consists of taking one step forward and then two steps back.

- GEORGE SMITH

Saturday’s 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth at Old Trafford was not the scoreline that had anyone envisioned after the manner of Wednesday night’s 2-1 triumph over Chelsea.

Goals either side of half-time from Dominic Solanke, Philip Billing and Marcos Senesi sealed a historic win for the Cherries, condemning United to a result Gary Neville described as ‘abysmal’ in a social media post. United, though they didn’t do too much wrong between both boxes, were well beaten by a side that so nearly dropped out of the English Football League as recently as 2009.

It marked one of the most damaging results of Erik ten Hag’s premiership so far. United’s stellar home record from last season is now becoming a distant memory.

After losing just one league game at Old Trafford in the whole of last season, United have now lost four league games on their own patch before we have even reached the halfway stage of this campaign. Only Burnley (seven), SheffieldUnited (six), Crystal Palace (five) and Everton (five) have lost more home games in the Premier League so far this term.