Jose Mourinho admitted Manchester United’s hopes of a top-four finish are slipping away after surrendering more points at Old Trafford against 10-man Bournemouth.
United are stuck in sixth place despite a 17-match unbeaten run in the Premier League after Bournemouth left with a 1-1. The result was even more surprising because of the dismissal of Andrew Surman on the stroke of half-time and a missed penalty by Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Mourinho has seen his team held by Stoke, Burnley, Hull, Arsenal and Liverpool at home.
‘Bournemouth fought for their lives with one player less. They parked the but I am not critical at all.
‘They gave up the chance to win and defended with everything they had. We played amazingly well in the first half and should have been 3-0 ahead but after that we lost vision and quality in our fouoball.’
United finished the game with 68% possession but saw Marcos Rojo’s goal after 23 minutes cancelled out by a Josh King penalty five minutes before the interval.
‘Once more we were punished in a game we should have won,’ said Mourinho. ‘The story about creating chances and not scoring goals is an old story but it applies perfectly for a lot of our home matches.
‘We had a chance in the first minute, and we accumulated chances after that. The goalkeeper gained confidence with his saves and was man of the match.
‘We had more than 10 chances and scored one goal. Last week we had five chances in the League Cup Final and scored three.
‘Of course, these results could cost us. If we had 10 more points as we should have, we’d be talking about the top two or one.
‘We are not dead in relation to the top four, there are matches to play, points to win, points to fight for, but the reality is we are losing too many points at home.’
To add to Mourinho’s woe, he could be without Zlatan Ibrahimovic for three games if the striker is charged for an elbow on Bournemouth’s Tyrone Mings.
