Casemiro was Manchester United’s goalscorer and man of the match in Saturday’s crucial away victory at Bournemouth.
His spectacular finish earned United all three points on the south coast and put them within touching distance of Champions League football next season
The performance led his manager Erik ten Hag to say: “He keeps surprising us, he is such a brilliant football player. It was a great goal from Casemiro, a brilliant finish – and he keeps the team together.
"Casemiro won the most duels, regained possession more than any other player and took more shots than any other player. He has exceeded expectations, absolutely. His contribution is massive.”
Casemiro holds his manager in similar esteem.
“He has surprised me a lot with his ambition,” said the Brazilian. “We have been talking among us, and we have been saying that he is a little bit heavy because he always likes to win.
"He is asking for more because for him 100 per cent is not enough. We have to give more than 100 per cent. He works a lot and is very ambitious. He has the ambition to change the whole club.
“He is a manager who has the respect from all the players and the fans as well. But I think we need to give him time because despite the fact we have already won one title and are quite close to the Champions League, we need more time to grow up. We can see he is changing a lot of things within the club. He is always showing ambition to win.”
Casemiro was satisfied with the win over Bournemouth that leaves United needing just one point from the final two home games to guarantee Champions League football next season. United were within a minute of that objective until Liverpool’s late equaliser at Aston Villa.
“It’s true that we haven’t reached the objective yet,” said Casemiro. “We still need one point. We cannot even think about drawing the next game, we need to go out to win the three points in the next game. We cannot be relaxed.
"We know Chelsea aren’t going doing well but they are a huge club that won the Champions League just a few years ago. It’s going to be a really difficult game. We are going to play in our stadium with our fans. Now we know we are really close to our objective, which is to qualify.”
Bournemouth 0 Manchester United 1: player ratings
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BOURNEMOUTH RATINGS: Neto 7: Brazilian keeper beaten all ends up by his fellow countryman, Casemiro, who opened the scoring with a wonderful bit of improvisation, but got down smartly to deny the same player a second. Also kept out efforts from Weghorst and Fernandes with decent stops. -
Adam Smith 6: Showed plenty of attacking intent with a series of marauding runs forward on the right as the Cherries grew into the contest, but his crossing often lacked quality. Getty -
Illya Zabarnyi 7: Kept his side in the game when he repelled Wan-Bissaka’s left-footed strike, before throwing himself in front of another strike as Shaw tried his luck. Produced yet more heroics to flick Fernandes’ strike wide. Getty -
Marcos Senesi 7: Thought he’d done enough to cut out Eriksen’s clipped forward pass, only to inadvertently cushion the ball down for Casemiro to score. Nearly grabbed a last-gasp leveller with a sweetly-struck volley that flew just over. PA -
Lloyd Kelly 7: Kept Antony quiet and got a vital challenge in when he just managed to nip in front of the advancing Eriksen. Caused problems at the other end when his inviting delivery was glanced away by Lindelof with Christie lurking. Getty -
Lewis Cook 6: Made himself busy all afternoon with a series of important challenges, the first of which saw him thwart Martial with a well-timed block. Booked for a naughty challenge on Eriksen, and he was perhaps fortunate not to see red. Getty -
Jefferson Lerma 5: Struggled to give his side a foothold in a game where he was outclassed by United’s trio of Fernandes, Casemiro and Eriksen. Schooled by Garnacho, but delighted the home faithful when he tried to assist Antony in leaving the field. Getty -
David Brooks 8: Brilliant to see the winger make his first start for 20 months. Produced some moments of class too, including a beautiful drop of the shoulder to beat his man on the edge of the box. Later forced a wonder-save from De Gea with a driven effort. AFP -
Ryan Christie 7: Showed excellent workrate to track back and get a foot in when the hosts were struggling to stem the tide. Did well to divert Smith’s poor cross towards de Gea’s goal but it was a simple stop for the Spaniard. PA -
Jaidon Anthony 6: Whipped in a peach of a cross from the lef early on but there wasn’t a single shirt in the box. Looked to stretch his legs on a couple of occasions but was kept on a tight leash by visitors. Getty -
Dominic Solanke 6: Sprang to life in 27th minute when he controlled the ball well under pressure and shrugged off the challenges before testing De Gea. Looped a header onto the roof of the net in first-half stoppage time and later fizzed a low effort across goal. PA -
SUBS: Kieffer Moore (On for Brooks 56') 5: Just four Premier League goals this season for the bit-part striker, who wasted a big opportunity to grab a fifth when he placed his effort straight at De Ge, who stood up well at his near post. -
Matias Vina (On for Smith 66') 6: A final run-out on home turf for the popular loanee. Showed excellent composure at one point to chest the ball back to his goalkeeper at the back post. AFP Dango Ouattara (On for Christie 66') 6: Stretched the United defence on a couple of occasions, including a threaded pass to pick out Moore. -
MAN UNITED RATINGS: David De Gea 8: Got down low to his left to save from Solanke in first half Better save with his legs from Moore seven minutes from time when the goalkeeper was the last man. Faultless. Getty -
Aaron Wan-Bissaka 7: Right-back, yet an important attacking player for United as he overlapped with Antony. Won the ball back, picked Fernandes out with a pass to set up the Portuguese in second half. Dealt well with Bournemouth’s Anthony. Getty -
Raphael Varane 7: Strong – as he needed to be – against Solanke. Smart idea to play a ball between the lines towards Sancho just before half-hour mark. Reuters -
Victor Lindelof 8: Crucial for the first as he made an interception to win possession back. His header stopped a 33rd minute Bournemouth attempt on goal and he read the balls forward to Solanke well. Solid to the last and praised by his manager. Getty -
Luke Shaw 7: Abused for his Southampton connections by Bournemouth fans, he didn’t look in the slightest bit bothered. Stealing a few extra metres on a second half throw in wound the home fans up even more. Read Ouattara’s movement well enough to nullify his threat. Reuters -
Casemiro 8: Overhead kick on the spin from six yards out for early goal. Controlled a loose ball to shoot low on target on five minuites before break. Accurate long balls, usually to Antony. Praised by his manager for his movement and for exceeding expectations. Reuters -
Christian Eriksen 7: Curled a ball towards the Bournemouth goal which led to the opener. Short corner attempt with Shaw didn’t work. AFP -
Bruno Fernandes 6: Helped United dominate in the first half but gave the ball away to assist a 35th-minute attack. Volleyed shot on target 15 minutes from time, then a struck an 84th-minute effort which was anything but. AFP -
Jadon Sancho 6: Worked hard. Came deep, supported Fernandes. Neat, but final ball didn’t come off enough in the first half. Tried to find pockets of space in front of the home defence. PA -
Antony 7: Went down heavily in the first half after a challenge. Gave the ball away to set up one first-half Bournemouth attack. Weak shot bobbled across goal just before hour mark. Needs to be more effective in front of goal. Getty -
Anthony Martial 6: One shot in first half went well over. Nudged towards goal in the first attack after the break and led an attack with a double one-two on 56. He was substituted ten seconds later. AFP -
SUBS: Wout Weghorst (On for Martial 57') 8: Had a shot which came back off the keeper and played a neat ball in the subsequent attack. Defended to stop a Bournemouth attack, then set up McTominay. Getty -
Alejandro Garnacho (On for Sancho 72') 7: Came on to chants of ‘Viva Garnacho’. Skinned Lermana to create a chance, but his ball across goal was a poor one. Reuters -
Scott McTominay (On for Eriksen 86') N/A. AFP Fred (On for Antony 86') N/A.
The win at Bournemouth was key.
“The most important thing was to win the three points, that was our objective this afternoon,” he said before talking about his goal. “The assist from Christian was really good. But it wasn’t just the goal, the team played really well today. It was another game with a clean sheet and we had a really good dynamic.”
His ninth-minute bicycle kick was spectacular. “I had one a little bit similar when I was playing in Madrid,” he smiled, which he wasn’t doing when he was sent off in two home games for United in the spring.
“I am really happy here,” he said. “I am enjoying being in the Premier League a lot. I haven’t enjoyed so much for a long time and since I arrived at the club, all of the staff, the fans, everybody have been really incredible with me.
"I am trying to give them back everything on the field and give my best. It’s a really good experience for me. I hope and expect to continue in this way. We know that our objective is to win trophies and titles, and we are in the process of growing up.”
Casemiro is one of three Brazilians in United’s first team and he rates his fellow countrymen highly.
“Antony has incredible quality,” he said. “Fred hasn’t played a lot but he has always been giving the best when he has the opportunity to play. He has a really high level. They are really good players.”
