Player’s baby death inspires in Bournemouth EPL victory over Manchester United

The loss capped a disastrous week for United and manager Louis van Gaal, with the Red Devils sent packing from the Champions League mid-week after a 3-2 loss to Wolsfburg.

Harry Arter drove Bournemouth to stunning 2-1 victory over Manchester United with “real dignity” following the death of his daughter, according to Eddie Howe.

Having been forced to defend his record in the face of heavy criticism following his side’s Champions League exit at Wolfsburg, United manager Van Gaal again saw his team undone by alarming defensive lapses.

“So as soon as we have seen that, and obviously on the back of the confidence of last week [beating Chelsea] – and they had a very hard game in Europe this week – I think all the factors, we really fancied ourselves”.

“We’ve got the squad, we’re the club that we are because we want to be fighting in the competitions”. We have now to win three matches in a row for example, to be there still after Christmas.

Van Gaal believes his players will rise to the challenge, although they may be demoralised after back-to-back defeats.

United have now gone five Premier League games without a victory, their worst run in a single season since 1998-99 – where Sir Alex Ferguson ended up leading them to the treble of league title, FA Cup and Champions League crown. I felt we had been playing really well and people were probably growing exhausted of me saying how well we were playing without winning.

And if anyone gives you the line about the club being luckless with injuries, remind them why they are in this state.

But van Gaal was left to bemoan how his reshuffled, inexperienced backline failed to pick up on Bournemouth’s clever second-half corner routine, leaving United old boy Josh King unmarked to rifle home the victor.

“Manchester United are going backwards again and I don’t see that changing because the manager will not change”, he told the Sun. “We have got to get back to doing that as quickly as possible”.

“It’s a rare error, but I think David knows it better than me”. “We have to prepare for this match in the same way as we always do”.

Saying Friday that United will have to get used to losing its status as a European heavyweight will hardly have endeared Van Gaal to the club’s increasingly disillusioned fans.

Yaya Toure’s shot in the second minute of injury time struck young substitute Kelechi Iheanacho and looped into the net as City escaped with a win from an unconvincing display against Swansea at Etihad Stadium.