‘Got to be stronger’ – Neville slams Man Utd star in stunning Bournemouth draw | OneFootball

Man Utd legend Gary Neville insists that Luke Shaw was to blame for Antoine Semenyo’s goal in the first half in a 4-4 draw aaginst Bournemouth.

Amad Diallo’s early goal was cancelled out by a Semenyo strike on 40 minutes before Man Utd went into the break 2-1 up thanks to a Casemiro header in first-half stoppage time.

Evanilson and Marcus Tavernier both struck inside the first seven minutes of the second half to give Bournemouth the lead in a topsy-turvy clash at Old Trafford.

A sublime Bruno Fernandes free-kick got Man Utd on level terms once again before Matheus Cunha pounced on a poor clearance to give the Red Devils the lead less than two minutes later.

But Bournemouth still had time to find another equaliser with Eli Junior Kroupi finishing well after latching onto a ball through the middle.

During the match, Neville picked out Shaw for criticism as he thought the England international had to be stronger for Semenyo’s equaliser to make it 1-1 in the first half.

When watching back Semenyo’s goal, Neville said on Sky Sports commentary: “There’s an inquest going on at that far side, but he [Semenyo] is a special player.

“Mason Mount just pops it back to Shaw and then Luke Shaw just gets barged out of the way. It’s a little bit of a shoulder to shoulder.

“There’s a lot to do, an awful lot to do, and he just basically gets shoulder barged out of the way by Justin Kluivert.

“He’s got to be stronger there, Shaw, and he just leaves his team-mates in a position whereby they’ve almost got to invite Semenyo to shoot because if you go out too early they will just play it across.

“Can you beat the goalkeeper? Yes you can. It’s an absolutely wonderful finish, everything you’d want in teaching a young forward. He just side foots it but with such power.

“For all their good work, Manchester United, they find themselves level in the game.”

But Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher thought Heaven was to blame, he said at half-time: “It’s just a mix up on that far side. Luke Shaw gets knocked off the ball and it’s a brilliant goal from Semenyo’s point of view.

“But Ayden Heaven, he’s a young player, obviously, and he’ll learn from the experience… but he’s got to come over in that situation.

“It’s a difficult one. Semenyo’s got the run and Heaven’s got to come over at some stage, he can’t allow him to keep running and running and get the shot away.

“Mason Mount is involved initially and because Luke Shaw gets knocked off the pitch, he’s got to try and get back if he can. He’s the only one that can get back.”

Despite the defeat, Neville praised the entertainment put on by Man Utd on Monday night, he said on his Sky Sports podcast: “It was a stunning watch. I was really critical after the Everton and West Ham games because of just the nature of the performance. I thought it was really bland.

“This was the complete and utter opposite. I can live with that all day long in terms of a performance and a standard because they played with real intent, played the ball forward, always played at full pace.

“When United went 3-2 down, Ruben Amorim then went to 4-4-2 and did the right thing. Forget the system, he did the right thing. He got the right players on the pitch and were a massive threat.

“The second half was absolute mayhem. There were big boos after the West Ham and Everton games but there weren’t the big boos here after this game. There was disappointment but there were a lot of fans we’ve just seen who stayed in the stadium to clap the team because they can live with that.

“If you’re a kid coming to United – my two girls have come tonight, and they’ll be thrilled walking back. They won’t be happy that United haven’t won, but they’ll have seen a great game of football and that’s what you come to Old Trafford for.

“You come for entertainment. Of course you come to see your team win, and I get it, you’ve got to go and win games, win trophies, win titles and we could say it’s not good enough in respect of what’s happened, but I think getting the entertainment bit right, the performance and style right, is absolutely critical at this football club.

“I enjoyed what I’ve seen tonight from those red shirts.”