in last, Bournemouth emerged victorious in the Theatre of Dreams – an additional dreadful day for Manchester United.

The Cherries had only ever been ahead at Old Trafford once before and had never before won there.

Nonetheless, Andoni Iraola’s team took the lead through Dominic Solanke in less than five minutes, and they hardly looked back the entire afternoon.

Philip Billing, a Danish midfielder, secured the points before Marcos Senesi compounded United’s humiliation.

It couldn’t have been more humiliating for Erik ten Hag’s team to begin a week that may decide their season.   

They were jeered off, and they now have a Champions League comeback to complete on Tuesday night before going to Liverpool the following Sunday.

For the Red Devils, it’s back to square one just when it seemed like they were turning the corner.

And to think that just a day before this horror show, Ten Hag was enjoying being named manager of the month.  

The former Ajax manager surprised everyone by starting Rasmus Hojlund, a high-profile summer acquisition, on the bench instead of Marcus Rashford.

The much-maligned Anthony Martial on the pitch instead, a decision that left the regulars perplexed.

Although Bournemouth has never triumphed at Old Trafford, they came in with a respectable record, having won three and drawn one of their previous four meetings.

Manager Andoni Iraola was a member of Athletic Bilbao’s squad that eliminated United from the Europa League in 2012.

And the way his Cherries approached their work here would have delighted him.

Within the first few minutes, Andre Onana challenged Solanke in the box, but the referee remained unmoved, and VAR concurred.

However, they took the lead in the fifth minute when Lewis Cook beat Scott McTominay to the ball and bounded past Sofyan Amrabat.

Although Solanke deftly headed in his low cross from the right, it was far too simple for him to score his eighth goal of the year.

This was the Cherries’ sole previous victory at the Theatre of Dreams; their most recent defeat was in 2020, when they were down 5-2.

Harry Maguire attempted an immediate comeback for United, throwing in a looping header that Neto had to tip over.

However, Bournemouth was offering a threat on the break and was defending brilliantly as well.

And in many respects, United was lucky to trail by just one goal at halftime.

After Onana had only parried a Solanke header, Marcus Tavernier nodded in the rebound; fortunately for United, the linesman’s flag was raised.

Tavernier was booked for time-wasting just after he started to take a corner, even though the half-hour had not even passed.

Marcos Senesi fired a header across goal from the ensuing flag-kick, but it went just wide of the far post.

The visitors advanced even further when Cook set up Solanke once more; but, this time, his lacklustre performance defeated Onana but collided with the post.

While United had hardly seemed like increasing to their pitiful total of 18 goals for the season, Iraola’s team was undoubtedly worth their lead.

At halftime, Ten Hag made no changes, but ten minutes into the second half, he had had enough.

The home fans gave his decision to start Hojlund in lieu of Martial the greatest cheer of the afternoon.

Although the £72 million transfer from Atalanta hasn’t yet shown himself in the Premier League, his presence was greatly appreciated.

The two-goal hero against Chelsea, McTominay, had another opportunity to save United, but this time his header was direct at Neto.

Hojlund’s attempt on goal was blocked, and Diogo Dalot’s attempt went into the side netting when it was clearly in the crossbar.

However, the visitors were handling the home team’s threats with ease and continued to appear valuable going forward.

And they increased their lead twice in the second half when Solanke intercepted a pass from Luke Shaw and found Tavernier.

After he crossed to the back post, Billing easily outjumped Shaw and went past Onana.

A mere five minutes later, Old Trafford was shocked into even more quiet.

Senesi’s head was almost unmarked when Tavernier’s corner from the right found it, and he hammered a forceful header into the corner.  

After the team’s seventh league loss of the season, that signalled to many supporters to leave the stadium.

A careless pass from Amrabat allowed Bournemouth to re-enter the game, and Dango Outtara headed the ball home deep into stoppage time.