Marcus Rashford’s early strike helped Ole Gunnar Solskjaer secure his ninth win in ten games as interim Manchester United boss, but they were made to ride their luck against a dogged Leicester.
Rashford had missed a glorious chance before finding the net but premium chances were few and far between for the visitors. Leicester could have equalised in the second half if not for a Jonny Evans miskick in the area and David De Gea’s wonderful save from a Rachid Ghezzal free-kick.
Here are our talking points …
Bailly out of balance
The King Power Stadium is the site where United were famously eviscerated 5-3 in 2014 featuring a virtuoso display from Jamie Vardy. On Sunday his lustre was certainly lacking, and if the former England striker had replicated just a smidgen of that past performance, United would have been in serious trouble.
With the majestic Paul Pogba unleashed in the attacking third there is often vast space behind him, and to a traditionally counterattacking team like Leicester, that’s the space they attack to earn their pay. Nemanja Matic and Jesse Lingard resorted to tactical fouls and seeing their name written in Mike Dean’s book to slow the on-rush and there were several other ‘clever’ nibbles, as well.
It’s the natural result of a more attacking side and no one wants to see a Mourinho-esque dirge return. However, United must either score more goals or beef up their defence amid the onslaught – because Eric Bailly isn’t cutting it.
He was missing in action during a number of threatening Leicester set-pieces and even when making one crucial interception, immediately knocked the ball out of play. With Victor Lindelof vastly improved, there’d be few pieces of the puzzle left to fill.
From Master to Mr Rashford
Much had been made of Rashford’s wastefulness in front of goal pre-Solskjaer – yet no United player has scored more goals in the Premier League since his debut in 2016.
Things have changed, but the same old mutterings were circulating in various parts of Manchester after he somehow scooped a header over the bar with five minutes gone.
Before the frown was off his face, however, he brought down Pogba’s outrageous ball with a touch of sheer arrogance before rifling past Kasper Schmeichel. Rashford’s head would almost certainly have drooped if not for this goal-scoring run, now at six from 10 post-Mourinho games. From boy to man before Solskjaer’s very eyes.
26 - Since his Premier League debut for Manchester United in February 2016, Marcus Rashford has scored more goals in the competition (26) than any other player for the club. Opener. #LEIMUN pic.twitter.com/7nYSqOMkFb
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 3, 2019
King Power conundrum
Leicester are truly an oddity. They have won just twice at home since September – but one of those was against Man City.
They lose to Wolves 4-3 on their travels before holding Liverpool at Anfield. For the most part it was Jekyll, not Hyde, who showed up against United and they were unlucky to not at least retrieve a point.
They have course coped with tragedy as well this year, but the problem on the pitch may be a lack of goal-scorers. The Foxes have only scored two goals in a winning effort twice since October, and tellingly it was in those two home wins.
Vardy can flit in and out of form and Ghezzal is not Riyad Mahrez, while 22-year-old No.10 James Maddison is a wonderful player, but only finds the target on just over half of his shots.
A little more quality next summer could make them an intriguing prospect again.
