Harry Maguire’s England recall tempered by red card in Man Utd draw

Harry Maguire’s England recall was tempered by a costly red card as Manchester United’s quest for Champions League qualification suffered a setback following a dramatic 2-2 Premier League draw at Bournemouth.

United defender Maguire, who began Friday celebrating a return from the international wilderness, was dismissed for a foul on Evanilson, allowing Cherries substitute Junior Kroupi to equalise with an 81st-minute penalty.

The visitors were twice on course to move within four points of second-placed Manchester City after Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring from the spot and a James Hill own goal restored the advantage following Ryan Christie’s initial leveller.

But United will instead be looking over their shoulders at the chasing pack of Aston Villa, Liverpool and Chelsea after dropping points for only the third time in 10 top-flight fixtures under head coach Michael Carrick.

In an action-packed second half, the away side felt aggrieved not to be awarded a second penalty following a potential foul by Adrien Truffert on Amad Diallo, immediately before Christie equalised.

Bournemouth remain 10th in the table after stretching their unbeaten run to 11 games with a fifth-consecutive draw and 15th of the season.

United’s resurgence since Carrick replaced Ruben Amorim in January was underlined on Friday morning by Maguire and Kobbie Mainoo returning to the England set-up for the first time since September 2024.

The pair started in an unchanged team after Sunday’s 3-1 success over top-four rivals Villa, while Bournemouth recalled Alex Jimenez and Amine Adli in place of Adam Smith and Kroupi.

Diallo stung the palms of diving Cherries goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic inside five minutes before Rayan dragged wide at the other end