Manchester United 2-0 Leicester City: Four Things We Learned

 

Manchester United beat Leicester City 2-0 in the third round of the Premier League on Saturday. Old Trafford saw another interesting performance, far from boredom typical of the last season.

Leicester City were a tough opposition to break. Kasper Schmeichel was doing wonders in goal, especially when he saved Romelu Lukaku’s penalty in the second half. Yet, Manchester United did not panic and waited for their chances.

The first goal came after a corner kick when Marcus Rashford scored at the 70th minute mark. United could breathe more easily and Marouane Fellaini finished it all with a goal 10 minutes later.

Pogba Doing Things For Manchester United

The Europa League player of the season 2016-17 showed another great performance. He was not truly impeccable, to be honest. He still showed glimpses of immaturity, holding the ball for too long when it is not necessary.

Yet he was creating things. His movement around the pitch was great and his long range passes are always a joy to watch. Also, constantly threatening from distance always helps.

Mkhitaryan Creates Even When Struggling

Henrikh Mkhitaryan did not have one of his best games. More importantly, Mkhitaryan ended the match with an assist to his name. And that is what counts. He was not at his best on Saturday, but he kept going.

His decision making hindered him in the first half, being unable to crack Leicester’s powerful defence. Yet he continued trying. He completed four key passes, one of them being Rashford’s goal after a corner kick. Jose Mourinho opted to take him off with quarter of an hour left. Going into international break, the Armenian will be satisfied with five assists in three matches.

That is already as many Premier League assists as he had in 2016-17. He will only get better.

Matic The Master

This was a typical performance from Nemanja Matic. He was everywhere but he was not taking the spotlight. Matic created for team-mates, balanced the midfield, and broke down Leicester’s attacks. Everything you would expect from a world-class defensive midfielder.

Matic made three tackles, two clearances and two interceptions. He was dribbled past just once during 90 minutes. Leicester, therefore, had a good reason to kick the ball from the back directly to their strikers. The Foxes tried to go past Matic with long balls, something they usually like to do.

Yet, Matic did every part of his job immaculately. He had 88 touches, spraying balls to either side of the pitch.

Impact Subs Once Again

Against West Ham and Swansea, it was Anthony Martial who scored goals after coming off the bench. This time the Frenchman was in the starting XI. Though he played well, he could not break the deadlock, so the substitutes did that for him.

First it was Rashford who came on instead of Martial and scored a goal after Mkhitaryan’s corner. Not long after, Jesse Lingard assisted to Fellaini for the second goal of the game. Mourinho got his substitutes right again, with all three of them making instant impact. We could say Manchester United have a real strength in depth this season.

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