Bournemouth climb to fifth with 3-0 rout at Man United

MANCHESTER, England :Bournemouth thrashed Manchester United 3-0 in the Premier League at a chilly Old Trafford on Sunday thanks to goals from Dean Huijsen, Justin Kluivert and Antoine Semenyo, climbing to fifth in the standings.

Bournemouth's fourth league victory in five matches moved them to 28 points after 17 games, while United are 13th with 22 points and will spend Christmas in the bottom half of the table for the first time in Premier League history.

Huijsen put the visitors on the score sheet when he out-jumped Joshua Zirkzee to head home Ryan Christie's free kick in the 29th minute. United have been plagued by set piece issues, giving up two goals from corner kicks against Arsenal and then one to Nottingham Forest earlier this month.

While United peppered Bournemouth with shots late in the first half, including three from captain Bruno Fernandes, it was the visitors who put the game away with two goals within two minutes early in the second half.

Kluivert scored from the penalty spot in the 61st minute, awarded after Noussair Mazraoui brought down the Dutch winger, sending keeper Andre Onana the wrong way.

The delighted Bournemouth fans were still celebrating when Dango Ouattara swept a pass into Semenyo inside the box two minutes later. United defender Lisandro Martinez put up little resistance as Semenyo unleashed a hard shot past Onana.

"It's an important win for us," Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola said. "We won 3-0 but it was more difficult than it looks when you see 3-0. I think we've been quite solid, it was a mature performance."

Bournemouth's supporters gleefully sang "Man United, it's happened again" in the dying minutes, in reference to the Cherries' victory by the same score at Old Trafford last season.