GOALS from Manchester United pair Chris Smalling and Romelu Lukaku meant Cherries fell to a 2-0 reverse at Vitality Stadium.

Smalling capped off a neat passing move to give the visitors the advantage on 28 minutes before substitute Lukaku came off the bench to double the advantage and ensure Eddie Howe’s men suffered back-to-back league losses.

Defeat for the hosts means they remain 11th in the Premier League table, with 38 points from 35 games.

Midfielder Andrew Surman was recalled to Cherries’ starting XI and made his first league start since the 4-0 defeat to Manchester City in December.

Callum Wilson was also included in place of Jermain Defoe, as Cherries made two changes from the side which fell to a 3-0 reverse at Liverpool on Saturday.

Dan Gosling was the other man to drop to the bench while Joshua King kept his place against his former club.

United had gone into the contest having suffered a shock 1-0 home loss to struggling West Brom on Sunday, in turn confirming arch-rivals Manchester City as Premier League champions.

Boss José Mourinho hinted at personnel changes in the build-up to the clash against Cherries, and he made seven alterations to his starting XI in total.

David De Gea, Smalling, Paul Pogba and Ander Herrera were the only survivors from Sunday's line-up, while Luke Shaw and Matteo Darmian were handed rare starts.

Alexis Sanchez, Lukaku, Nemanja Matic and Ashley Young were among the substitutes. Lukaku had scored seven goals in six games against Cherries in all competitions ahead of kick-off.

Cherries started the contest brightly and gained their first opportunity after just three minutes.

After King was fouled by full-back Darmian on the edge of the box, Ryan Fraser shifted the free-kick to skipper Simon Francis, whose low drive was blocked by the United wall.

Mourinho’s men started to settle into the contest and had almost unlocked Cherries’ defence with nine minutes on the clock.

French midfielder Paul Pogba looked to pick-out Marouane Fellaini at the far post, but the former Everton man was judged offside.

Cherries then showed their threat on the counter when Charlie Daniels picked out Wilson, who had outpaced the visitors’ defence.

He found winger Jordon Ibe, who could only steer the ball wide of the post from 20 yards out.

Home keeper Asmir Begovic was then given a simple task following a United corner. He gathered after Jesse Lingard’s deflected strike from the edge of the box had looped up off a defender.

At the other end, Lewis Cook this time found Fraser who had burst down the left flank, the Scotland international’s strike taking a ricochet off Jones and falling wide of the near post.

A rare defensive mistake from Cherries ace Nathan Ake almost meant the deadlock was broken.

He lost out in a battle with Marcus Rashford on the right flank, allowing the England striker the opportunity to drive at goal and sting the palms of Begovic.

But just a minute later, the Red Devils were ahead.

After some neat build-up play down the right, Darmian’s through ball was gathered by Lingard, who cut the ball back for Smalling to apply the simplest of finishes for his fourth goal of the campaign.

The defender’s opener was his third consecutive away goal in the top-flight.

Cook and Fraser then combined once again for the hosts in a bid to find a quick response, but the diminutive winger was off balance when firing at goal and his effort was tame.

Howe’s men continued to push forward and they almost got their leveller two minutes before the break.

Ake showed his strength to battle through a couple of challenges before releasing King, whose venomous shot on the angle was beaten away by United skipper De Gea.

Following the break, Lewis Cook was the first man to receive a caution after bringing down England team-mate Lingard, who showed an electric turn of pace in midfield.

Cherries then came agonisingly close to making it 1-1 in one of the contest’s main talking points.

After Fraser had released King down the left, he crossed for Wilson, who failed to find the final touch after seemingly being held back by defender Shaw, who had come across to track the frontman. Wilson’s claims for a spot-kick were waved away by referee Graham Scott.

Howe then looked to the bench and replaced Ibe with striker Lys Mousset.

The contest then began to heat up. Smalling was booked for a foul on Wilson, while Steve Cook was shown yellow for a rash challenge on Pogba.

Lukaku was brought off the bench in place of Lingard, but it was Cherries who continued to look the most threatening.

Lewis Cook skipped away from his man and played in Wilson, who was denied the chance to get a shot away by a last-ditch sliding challenge from Phil Jones.

Lukaku’s first involvement was to strike a free-kick from right on the edge of the box straight at Cherries’ wall after Mousset was judged to have clipped Pogba.

But it did not take the Belgian striker too much longer to get his name on the scoresheet.

With 20 minutes left, he raced on to a perfectly weighted through ball from Pogba, got the better of his former Chelsea team-mate Ake and lifted the ball over goalkeeper Begovic to make it 2-0 and increase his impressive scoring record against Cherries.

Pogba’s night was ended as he was replaced by Daley Blind with 10 minutes remaining. Wilson went to ground once more but his claims for a penalty late on were rejected by referee Scott.

Cherries: Begovic, Francis, S Cook, Ake, Daniels, Fraser, L Cook, Surman (Gosling, 75), Ibe (Mousset, 56), King (Defoe, 82), Wilson.

Unused subs: Pugh, Arter, Simpson, Boruc (g/k).

Booked: L Cook, S Cook, Surman

United: De Gea, Darmian, Shaw, Smalling, Jones, Herrera (Matic, 72), Fellaini, Pogba (Blind, 80), Lingard (Lukaku, 62), Martial, Rashford.

Unused subs: Bailly, Sanchez, Young, Pereira (g/k).

Booked: Smalling

Referee: Graham Scott