Marcus Rashford scored a brace to help Manchester United produce one of the most comfortable football scores of the weekend in the Premier League. Rashford, who has already exceeded his previous tally of 22 goals with 24, took the hosts the lead against the run of play in the first half following a solid start from Leicester before increasing their lead following a VAR intervention to overrule an offside. Leicester fell apart in the second half, and United’s third came from substitute Jadon Sancho, who was playing in a new No 10 role after replacing Alejandro Garnacho at half-time, as Ten Hag’s team took full advantage of second-placed Manchester City’s draw at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Marcel Sabitzer was fortunate not to be sent off at the end of the first half for a high challenge on Leicester defender Wout Faes, and United had to rely on two huge saves from goalkeeper David De Gea in the opening 20 minutes as they rode their luck against the Foxes, whose three-game winning streak comes to an end. Under Ten Hag, United have turned Old Trafford a fortress once more, extending their undefeated home run to 17 games ahead of Barcelona’s visit on Thursday for the second leg of their Europa League play-off game, which is currently tied at 2-2. Manchester United will then meet Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley three days later.
Tete caused all sorts of issues for the hosts down the right side, exposing holes in United’s defense early on. It could have been a different outcome if De Gea hadn’t made two brilliant stops to deny Harvey Barnes and Kelechi Iheanacho, tying Peter Schmeichel’s club record of 180 clean sheets. Leicester’s failure to capitalize on their dominance quickly cost them as Rashford scored for the sixth game in a row with a thunderous effort from an angle. Once Faes vacated his position, the 25-year-old had a large pocket of space to sprint onto Bruno Fernandes’ pass and power past Danny Ward.
United’s defensive frailty was obvious, but they had a fantastic opportunity to double their advantage before the break, only for right-back Diogo Dalot to spoon his shot wide with an awkward close-range attempt after Fernandes’ low cross to the back post. United sought for a second goal in the second half, with Ten Hag putting on Sancho in a central position behind the striker. Rashford scored his second goal of the game after a VAR intervention overturned the initial offside call. Since the World Cup, he has had 16 goals in 17 games.
Sancho, whose entrance into the center gave United fresh energy, then capped a brilliant move by meeting Fernandes’ low cross with his left foot to put the game out of reach for Leicester, who must settle for 14th in the table and four points above the drop zone.
“We are pleased with the outcome; it is excellent. When you play every third day, you can’t always expect to put forth the same effort. Today was quite difficult,” Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag said. “Leicester played brilliantly in the first half, whereas we were dreadful due to our lack of discipline. We had issues, and we only had a clean sheet at halftime because of David de Gea. Fortunately, we had half-time to address some things, and the second half was fantastic. It was a lot of fun to see how many chances we generated and how many beautiful goals we scored.”
“In the end, the outcome was disappointing. I think we played very well in the first half. We sought out the greatest openings and looked for a genuine threat. De Gea makes a fantastic save,” Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers said. “We made a mistake for the first goal, which was certainly their best chance. Marcus Rashford is in excellent form and has a very clinical finish. We needed to come out and take control, which we didn’t quite do. We handed up a disappointing second goal, followed swiftly by a third goal, and the game was lost. It was a frustrating second half, but there was plenty to think about in the first half and apply to our next game.”
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