Premier League Match Report: Man United 1-0 Leicester City
Man United made a positive return to the Premier League after the international break, as Marcus Rashford’s first-half goal from the penalty spot handed the Red Devils a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Leicester City at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Leicester came into the game unbeaten in the Premier League and were considered by many as the favourites to outwit United on their home turf but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side silenced the critics and had the last laugh in a game where there wasn’t much to separate the two sides.
United were under pressure to bounce back after a shock home defeat against Crystal Palace and a disappointing draw away at Southampton before the international break and the Red Devils should be overjoyed to have come away with all three points from a fixture which looked pretty tricky on paper.
The game started on a bright note with both the teams registering shots on goal early in the first half. Andreas Pereira’s free-kick was kept out by Kasper Schmeichel at his near post before United were nearly made to pay for some sloppy defending from Victor Lindelof, only for David de Gea to deny James Maddison an opener.
It was United, though, who drew first blood, albeit with a lot of help from Foxes’ centre-back Caglar Soyuncu, who gifted the hosts a penalty with a needless clip to bring down Marcus Rashford inside the box.
And Rashford didn’t make any mistake from the penalty spot this time around, having missed his spot-kick in the 2-1 defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace.
Much to the disappointment of Brendan Rodgers, that reckless challenge was ultimately proved to be the difference between the two sides. The Foxes weren’t at their sparkling best and despite enjoying a lot of possession, the visitors struggled to carve out any real chances before the interval.
Trailing by a goal to nil, Leicester started the second half as the brighter of the two teams and James Maddison blazed his free-kick just over the bar, while Daniel James got the Old Trafford crowd off their feet with a dazzling run where he left Ricardo Pereira for dead but narrowly missed the mark with his curling effort.
With Leicester dictating most of the play, United looked happy to sit back and absorb the pressure, while threatening occasionally with their pace on the counter. Marcus Rashford hit the post with a thunderous free-kick from range but United hardly created any clear-cut chances from open play.
Despite that, however, the Foxes were hardly able to bring their talisman, Jamie Vardy, into the game, with Harry Maguire proving his worth by completely shutting out the Premier League’s ultimate opportunist.
Leicester, though, upped the ante late in the game and things could have been different had Wilfried Ndidi managed to keep his left-footed volley from close range on target.
To Read More Man United News, Click Here:- Latest Man United News
In the end, it was a game where neither sides hit great heights and not one that had too many talking points, although Ole Gunnar Solskjaer should be happy to take home three valuable points after a pretty mediocre performance where his team was forced to grind it out over the ninety minutes.
Here’s how the Man United fans reacted to the narrow 1-0 home victory over the Foxes:-