LONDON • Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had challenged his players to go the rest of the season unbeaten, and they kept their hopes alive yesterday with a 5-2 Premier League home win over Bournemouth.

A Mason Greenwood brace and another impressive performance from Bruno Fernandes meant that the Red Devils have not lost for 16 straight games in all competitions, with 12 wins in the process.

Greenwood's performance also drew praise from teammate Marcus Rashford, who said on BBC Sport: "Left foot, right foot, he can finish from both sides.

"But I would not put too much emphasis on him, just let him play his football. He scores goals and it is a big bonus for us to have him."

Solskjaer was thrilled with the win, saying: "That is a game for the fans. Very, very happy with today. The energy, the goals we scored, the will and intent to go forward."

Despite the convincing win, United conceded first in the 16th minute when Junior Stanislas weaved through their defence and beat David de Gea at his near post.

United's equaliser came just 13 minutes later when Greenwood, 18, smashed in a shot from a Fernandes pass. It was his second goal in as many league games after also scoring in the 3-0 win over Brighton at the end of last month.

United then went ahead in the 35th minute through a Rashford penalty. Anthony Martial made it 3-1 just before half-time with a strike from the edge of the box.

Solskjaer's men conceded again five minutes after the break when Joshua King converted a spot kick. But they proved too strong in the end, adding two more goals via Greenwood and a Fernandes free kick.

Greenwood, who is having a breakthrough season, is now the youngest United player to reach the 15-goal mark in a season since Wayne Rooney in 2004. Fernandes has scored seven goals and provided five assists in 14 appearances since joining from Sporting Lisbon in January.

In another game, Leicester beat Crystal Palace 3-0 with Kelechi Iheanacho scoring and Jamie Vardy netting a brace to take his Premier League tally to 101 goals.

The result meant Leicester are now in third place on 58 points, above United (55) with five games left, while Chelsea (54) faced Watford late yesterday. The result was not available at press time.