MANAGER Eddie Howe was pleased to see Cherries rediscover their attacking edge against Manchester United but admitted “that was not our finest hour” defensively.

Despite taking the lead through Junior Stanislas at Old Trafford, Cherries fell to a 5-2 defeat against the Red Devils to remain in the Premier League bottom three.

Former United man Joshua King also fired for the visitors from the penalty spot in the second half.

But a dazzling Mason Greenwood double along with goals from Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Bruno Fernandes saw United run out convincing victors.

Assessing his side’s display, Howe said: “Much better from an attacking sense.

“We were a threat in the game from start to finish, on the counter-attack we looked good. We had pace in wide areas and front positions. Scored a good goal, so that was a big improvement on recent weeks.

“But defensively, once we conceded the first goal, that was not our finest hour.

“We know we are in the Premier League and if you don’t get every detail right you will find it difficult.

“I think the most disappointing goal for me is the (United’s) first goal. I think we will look back at that as a key moment in the match.

“I haven’t seen the goal again but my gut feel was we didn’t deal with it anywhere near well enough. I think that changed the game in terms of momentum.

“The second goal was a harsh penalty to give against us. The third goal was an unbelievable finish and the really good thing is the second half we came out with good intent, got back in the match.

“The fourth goal probably knocked the stuffing out of us.

“Fair play to the players with how we responded at the beginning of the second half but they just had too much in the end.”

Defeat left Cherries 19th in the table with 27 points from 33 games. They host Tottenham and Leicester in their next two top-flight contests.

“I think you saw today there was an attacking edge we haven’t had in recent weeks,” said Howe.

“We carried a confidence when we got forward that we hadn’t always seen in recent games. You don’t want to damage that.

“I still feel the players believe they are good players and we believe we can be a good team. We’ve just got to put everything together.”