Manchester United cruised to an emphatic 3-0 win over Leicester City on Sunday evening.
While it was a calm and collected performance from Man United, the surprise of the evening came from Rasmus Hojlund, who brought an end to his prolonged goal drought.
Three minutes in, the hosts came close to breaking the deadlock when Jamie Vardy took an opportunistic effort that Andre Onana parried. It was poor defending by Manuel Ugarte and Victor Lindelof, who could not keep on their mark.
While United looked fairly confident on the ball, the players struggled to connect with one another, with the attacking build-up consistently breaking down amid a lack of focus.
After 15 minutes, United had been pressing the hosts in their final third on numerous occasions. However, Ruben Amorim’s men were wasteful, with Manuel Ugarte’s shot flying high over the crossbar while Diogo Dalot’s cross was overhit.
22 minutes in, Christian Eriksen almost scored a jaw-dropping goal. After taking a short corner to Bruno Fernandes, the United skipper tapped the ball back to Eriksen, who whipped in a curling shot that beat the goalkeeper, only to scrape the far post.
28 minutes in, Rasmus Hojlund finally ended his dry spell. 99 days since the last time he found the back of the net, an unmarked Hojlund received a lobbed pass from Fernandes, bursting forward and slotting the ball past the keeper into the far corner. 1-0 to United and a much-needed end to Hojlund’s goal drought.
Five minutes before the break, Ayden Heaven was knocked to the ground, earning United a free kick. Eriksen whipped in a threatening cross, only for Fernandes to balloon his shot over the crossbar.
A minute before half-time, Patson Daka dispossessed Lindelof on the edge of the box, only for Heaven to block his shot. The follow-up from Bilel El Khannouss was then blocked by Matthijs de Ligt.
While United went into the break with the lead, Amorim would have surely sought to galvanise his team at half-time, particularly in an effort to create more cohesion in the second 45.
Barely three minutes after the second-half got underway, United watched in horror as Ayden Heaven slumped to the ground alongside the goalpost. The medical team rushed onto the pitch, bringing a stretcher with them. Clearly, something incredibly serious happened to the rising star.
Toby Collyer came onto the field at Amorim’s request, replacing the injured centre-back.
56 minutes in, United doubled their lead. Hojlund rand down the centre, putting a through ball to Alejandro Garnacho who cut into the box, switched legs, and scored with a left-footed strike. Sadly, his celebration was short lived as the flag went up for offside. After a VAR check, the score remained at 1-0.
On the hour mark, Daka almost got on the end of an El Khannouss pass in the middle of a goalmouth scramble. Onana did well to catch the ball and cut out the attack.
Moments later, United won a corner. Eriksen crossed the ball to Collyer, whose header was blocked. Garnacho did well to pounce on the rebound, taking a shot that was expertly saved by the keeper.
65 minutes in, Fernandes took a shot from far that was deflected out for a corner. Eriksen laid off a short pass to Fernandes, who in turn set up Eriksen for the shot, whose decent attempt was caught by the keeper.
A minute later, Garnacho struck yet again. In what was a scramble in the Leicester City box, Garnacho took a powerful shot with his first touch, catching the goalkeeper off guard with a shot into the near post. 2-0 to United.
Following the goal, Amorim made a triple change. Casemiro, Joshua Zirkzee, and Harry Amass came on for Eriksen, Garnacho and Ugarte.
With 15 minutes to go, Leicester broke on a quick counter. Vardy passed to Facundo Buonanotte in the centre of the box, whose shot was expertly blocked by De Ligt, who produced a great response in minimal time.
Seven minutes before the final whistle, Zirkzee was on a fine run, dribbling past Wout Faes. Unfortunately, Faes decided to foul Zirkzee, handing United an opportune free-kick.
Chido Obi then came on for Rasmus Hojlund as United’s final substitute of the evening.
Just then, Zirkzee collapsed in pain after overreaching for a header. It seemed as if the forward fell onto his spine after jumping for the header. Fortunately, after a few minutes down, he was able to recover and return to the game.
On the stroke of 90 minutes, captain Fernandes added his name to the scoresheet. Diogo Dalot laid the ball off to the alert Fernandes, who guided his shot past the keeper from a far distance to lift United to a 3-0 lead.
Eight minutes of stoppage time were then announced, giving United even more time to add to their tally.
With two minutes of added time remaining, Vardy broke through the United defence to take a close-range shot, only for Onana to make a desperate save. 3-0 the score remained.
Soon enough, the proceedings were called to a halt. It was a convincing win from United, who managed the game well from start to finish. This result will no doubt give United the confidence they need to continue improving and perhaps end the season on a high.
Starting XI: Onana, Lindelof, Mazraoui, De Ligt, Fernandes, Hojlund, Eriksen, Garnacho, Dalot, Ugarte, Heaven
Subs: Collyer, Casemiro, Zirkzee, Amass, Chido
Featured image Michael Regan via Getty Images
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Mathew Cohen
A faithful Manchester United supporter, Mathew has worked as a football writer and analyst for SB Nation, FanSided, and now The Peoples Person. Mathew’s heroes include David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Sir Alex Ferguson, all of whom played their part in creating some special childhood memories.
