Bournemouth had an added-time penalty award overturned by VAR as disjointed Manchester United escaped Vitality Stadium with a scarcely-deserved 2-2 draw thanks to Bruno Fernandes’ brace.
Referee Tony Harrington pointed to the spot five minutes beyond the 90 when Ryan Christie went down under a challenge from Willy Kambwala before changing his decision to a free-kick on review.
Erik ten Hag’s men were tormented for much of an uninspiring performance in Dorset and twice trailed in the first half following goals from Cherries pair Dominic Solanke and Justin Kluivert.
Fernandes volleyed home his first equaliser against the run of play before denying the impressive hosts a maiden league double over the 20-time English champions by converting a 65th-minute penalty after Adam Smith handled as the ball ricocheted against his arm in the box.
United’s Portuguese captain also rattled the crossbar with a stunning strike from distance at 2-1 down in stoppage time at the end of an exhilarating opening period.
Yet outstanding Bournemouth, who hit the woodwork through Milos Kerkez and wasted numerous other chances, should have have been out of sight by then.
After the game Solanke told Sky Sports: "Going into the game we were confident. Knew it would be tough game but we told ourselves we had beat them once this season so knew we could do it again.
"We created a lot of chances and should've been two or three up but we didn't take the chances and the second half was a tight game."
On the late penalty decision being overturned, he said: "I haven't looked at it back but on the big screen it looked on the line so I think it could've been a penalty. Unlucky to not get it there and thought it would be our opportunity to go on and win it at the end.
"To beat United is something we'd love to do, it would've been a good chance to win it at the end so the boys are obviously a bit gutted about that."
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola said: "We could not finish it off. We missed chances, especially in the first half. We should have begun the second half with a better scoreline.
On the penalty decision from which Fernandes equalised after the ball had hit Smith's arm, he said: "[The handball] I think it is in the rules no? The ball rebounds from his teammate and what Adam does is instinctive. I think it is not called normally, these kind of handballs."
On the overruled penalty decision, he said: "I believe completely it was a penalty [for Christie]. Against Newcastle the penalty against us, the contact started outside the box. But [today] the first frame was put so the first contact was on the edge of the box, but the contact continues one, two metres inside and is stopping the player.
"It is not just one moment and Christie is down. The defender goes with Christie one, two metres inside the box. For me it is obvious."
United defender Diogo Dalot told Sky Sports: "I think there were ups and downs. We went down two times but we had the right attitude to go back and fight for the game."
Dalot was at fault for Bournemouth's second goal when he allowed Kluivert too much space and, when asked about individual errors, he said: "It's been happening in the last couple of games, we don't look to who has done it but we know it can happen at this level because they are clinical enough to score if we make mistakes. It's something we have to look for and try not to do.
"It's part of life to make mistakes. It's about reacting well the next game and the next few minutes to try to do better. That's what we have to overcome. We have to take responsibility but try not to do it for the next games and that's the challenge."
United move on to a Wembley FA Cup semi-final against Coventry sitting seventh in the table and with European qualification for next term still far from assured following another disappointing display of an unconvincing season, which extended their winless run to four top-flight games.
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Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
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LIVING IN...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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