Manchester United returned to winning ways on Wednesday night as they secured a comfortable 2-0 victory at Bournemouth.
Jose Mourinho‘s men went ahead through Chris Smalling in the first half, before Romelu Lukaku came off the bench to double their advantage.
Romelu Lukaku’s best season of his career
Fantasy Football enthusiasts would have been fuming with Mourinho’s decision to name Lukaku from the bench, but the Belgium international made up for it with his second half strike against Bournemouth, after fine work on the counter from Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba.
It was Lukaku’s 27th goal of the season in all competitions and is now his best-ever return in one campaign.
Chris Smalling proving a valuable goalscorer
Smalling has been subject to intense criticism for his error-laden performances in defence this season, but the England international was superb at the other end of the field.
The centre-back has posed a significant threat from set-pieces of late and scored the opener Bournemouth on Wednesday – his third in three consecutive away league games.
Smalling has the most number of starts under Mourinho (39) this season, capitalising on the injuries to Phil Jones, Eric Bailly and Marcos Rojo.
Manchester United better off without Alexis
With Alexis Sanchez on the bench, Martial and Marcus Rashford were given their chance to impress in attack and were both superb.
Martial linked up with Pogba who assisted Lukaku’s goal and was named man-of-the-match at Dean Court. He was afforded more space in midfield by Bournemouth and dictated proceedings in a 4-3-3 formation.
Given how well the Red Devils did without Alexis, his place in the side could be up for grabs after a lacklustre start to his United career.
Since his January move from Arsenal, the Chilean has been subject to criticism for losing possession countless times in games and being short of goals by his standard, which could leave Mourinho with a big decision to make on who he starts in the FA Cup semi-final clash with Tottenham.