Goals from Casemiro, Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford earned the Red Devils a comfortable home win over Bournemouth
Manchester United came into this game against Bournemouth looking to stretch their winning run to four matches and move just a point behind champions Man City.
Team news: Manchester United vs Bournemouth
Man United XI: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Lindelof, Shaw; Casemiro, Van de Beek, Eriksen, Fernandes; Martial, Rashford
Bournemouth XI: Travers; Mepham, Kelly, Smith, Senesi; Anthony, Cook, Lerma, Billing; Solanke, Christie
Manchester United vs Bournemouth first half
Manchester United dominated the first 10 minutes, controlling possession and looking for openings. Donny Van de Beek had a nice pop from the edge of the box but it failed to trouble the Bournemouth keeper.
After 23 minutes, Christian Eriksen delivered a beautiful cross into the box and Casemiro escaped his marker to rifle the ball into the roof of the net to give United a 1-0 advantage.
The Red Devils had all the chances in the opening 45 minutes and almost doubled their lead with a ruthless counter attack that saw a sublime Bruno Fernandes cross just evade Marcus Rashford at the far post. The first half ended 1-0 to the home side but it could have been more.
Manchester United vs Bournemouth second half
United began the second half on the ascendancy and got an early goal as their reward. Luke Shaw carried the ball forward before a couple of intricate passes worked the ball to Alejandro Garnacho who returned the ball to Shaw with a lovely pass across the six-yard box for the left back to score.
The home side had a golden opportunity to further strengthen their lead through Anthony Martial, but the Frenchman sent a free header wide from six yards out.
With United conceding just one goal in their last eight home games and Bournemouth failing to score in any of their three games since the restart, a comeback was looking unlikely.
However, the Cherries did manage to force a couple of strong saves from David de Gea as the Spaniard saved a strong Philip Billing header before denying Jaidon Anthony.
Manchester United added another goal late on through Rashford as he finished smartly from a Bruno Fernandes ball across the face of goal to secure all three points.