Manchester United returned to winning ways at Bournemouth as goals from Chris Smalling and Romelu Lukaku strengthened their grip on second place in the Premier League table.

Smalling pounced from close range after Ander Herrera's defence-splitting pass allowed Jesse Lingard to cross.

Callum Wilson should have equalised before substitute Lukaku fired the second after Paul Pogba's driving run.

United are four points ahead of third-placed Liverpool with four games left.

This was the reaction manager Jose Mourinho demanded after United's surprise home defeat by bottom club West Bromwich Albion on Sunday, which confirmed Manchester City as champions.

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It was job done as far as Mourinho was concerned, the Portuguese responding to the West Brom defeat by making seven changes at the Vitality Stadium.

With the title gone and patience running thin, Mourinho described this match as an opportunity for players to secure a place in the team to face Tottenham in Saturday's FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.

Goalkeeper David de Gea, who captained the side, Smalling, Herrera and Pogba were the only survivors from the weekend as Marouane Fellaini and Matteo Darmian made their first league starts since 30 September and 14 October respectively.

There was also rare appearance for Luke Shaw, while fellow defender Phil Jones and Anthony Martial made their first league starts for two months.

This was far from vintage United and Alexis Sanchez and Nemanja Matic can expect automatic recalls this weekend.

Yet it was an improvement on the performance against West Brom, which Mourinho described as "complicated".

In contrast to Sunday, Pogba was solid, if unspectacular, while Herrera's ball for Lingard to tee up Smalling to slide in for the opener was the pass of the night.

Lingard has a healthy goalscoring record at Wembley and his energetic performance against Bournemouth might earn him a starting place against Spurs.

United's 49th competitive game of the season had an end-of-season feel about it but their goals were well crafted and the points hard earned.

Cherries set for a fourth Premier League season

Bournemouth have now won only one of their past nine league games but, barring a spectacular sequence of results, they will be playing in the Premier League for a fourth successive season.

That in itself is a tremendous achievement for Eddie Howe and his players.

The Cherries, 11th in the table, are 10 points above the relegation zone, although they have played two games more than some of the teams below them.

They have beaten both Arsenal and Chelsea in 2018 but came unstuck against a United team with a point to prove.

On another day, Wilson might have won a penalty. With the score 1-0, Shaw appeared to make contact as the Bournemouth striker failed to divert Joshua King's cross over the line, before Lukaku's 16th league goal of the season ended the home side's hopes of a fightback.

Man of the Match - Jesse Lingard (Manchester United)

De Gea's career best - the stats

• Goalkeeper David de Gea has kept more clean sheets in all competitions for Manchester United in 2017-18 than he has in any other season for the club (21)
• United have won six of their past seven Premier League games, scoring two or more goals in each victory
• After winning their first Premier League meeting with Man Utd (2-1 in December 2015), Bournemouth have lost four and drawn one of the subsequent five matches
• Romelu Lukaku has scored seven goals in six Premier League appearances against Bournemouth
• No player has provided more Premier League assists in away games this season than Paul Pogba (7 - level with Tottenham's Christian Eriksen and Manchester City's David Silva)
• Bournemouth keeper Asmir Begovic has kept only one clean sheet in his past 22 Premier League games - and none in the past 10

The run-in - who plays who?

What's next?

Bournemouth are not in action again until 28 April when they travel to face Southampton in the Premier League (15:00 BST). Manchester United will look to keep alive their hopes of ending the season with a trophy when they face Tottenham at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday (17:15 BST).