Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side went into the game full of confidence after three away victories on the spin against Partizan Belgrade, Norwich City and Chelsea but Josh King’s first-half goal was enough to give Eddie Howe’s team all three points.
For Manchester United and their fans, the defeat will be irksome.
The Red Devils started the better team with Marcus Rashford, Daniel James and Anthony Martial all looking in the mood.
But as the game trickled down, it was clear that United didn’t have the player needed to give the trio the chances to score.
Solskjaer decided to play Andreas Pereira instead of Jesse Lingard, who struggled in the 2-1 Carabao Cup win over Chelsea in midweek.
But Pereira struggled. The United star didn’t pose much of a threat and had an ambitious driving shot well-saved by Aaron Ramsdale.
He’s a curious player. There’s talent there, clearly, and he’s liked by Solskjaer. He’s also popular with the fans, too, for his fiesty South American personality.
But it was another game where the 23-year-old just didn’t make his mark.
The United star was a squad player last season under both Solskjaer and Jose Mourinho.
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And he’s done nothing to suggest that he’s got the ability to be a regular week in, week out.
There was no urgency in his play, too.
At times he slowed United down. There was one point, with 30 minutes left, where he had players racing up to join him in attack.
But he took one touch, two touch, three before then releasing the ball.
It was no surprise that he was the first player to be substituted. Jesse Lingard, too, didn’t cover himself in glory.
And that means the game was proof that Solskjaer has to sign a creative player urgently, as early as January.