Manchester United 1-0 Leicester City: 5 talking points in the Red Devils small margin victory against Leicester City at the Old Trafford.
Manchester United met Leicester City in the game-week 5 of the Premier League, and after three rounds in the league, the Red Devils have been able to secure a victory.
Although, the game was not attractive in sense of gameplay and the Red Devils were just trying to keep Leicester City away from the goal. It would not be wrong to say that there was minimal creativity at both the ends.
On one side, Manchester United failed to have control over the ball for a prolonged period of time. Whereas, Leicester City failed to connect with Jamie Vardy ahead and were stuck in the string of passes.
Defending by Manchester United was really disciplined and the risk of defending the one-goal lead did pay the Red Devils in this game.
Leicester City would be regretting in giving away a penalty to Manchester United, as it came out to be the deciding factor of the game, after Marcus Rashford converted it in the 8th minute of the game.
Manchester United should be appreciated for covering their weaknesses, especially midfield, which digressed in the absence of Paul Pogba, and the defence handed well to compensate for the ball losses made by the midfield.
Overall, the game was tactically weak but there were certain moments, which came into light. Thus, the Sportsrush discuss 5 talking points in Manchester United 1-0 Leicester City at the Old Trafford.
#1 Soyuncu’s mistake turned deadly for the Foxes
Caglar Soyuncu was brought to Leicester City to replace Harry Maguire this summer, as the English International took a transfer away to Manchester United.
Although, the Turkish defender has not been able to replicate the charisma of Maguire in the backline but have been decent enough so far.
But today Soyuncu’s mistake turned to be fatal for his side, as what it looked like an unnecessary contact, gave Manchester United a much required penalty kick.
Later, Marcus Rashford turned up to convert the goal for Manchester United and it gave the sole goal of the match and helped Manchester United to win the game.
#2 Jamie Vardy Vs Harry Maguire- Maguire conquers the battle
One of the most anticipated player battle was between Jamie Vardy and Harry Maguire for tonight’s match, and in the end Maguire was able to control his compatriot and former teammate.
Fans were excited to see these two against each other for the first time, as blistering pace by Vardy and rock solid defending of Maguire excited the fans.
In conclusion, Maguire was able to capitalize over Vardy and helped his new side to win over his former club. Over all, Maguire was brilliant in the game, his correct decision making and right interceptions thwarted every chances made by Leicester City.
The English defender seemed to be the differing factor between the two sides, and so far it seems the Red Devils’ money is invested at the right place.
#3 Leicester City’s midfield had control but failed to capitalize and poor decision making
Leicester City had better possession in the game, but yet they failed to level the score despite dominating the midfield battle for most part of the game.
Despite being on the ball for more number of minutes, the Foxes failed to find spaces inside Manchester United’s 18-yard-box and denied by the Red Devils’ defence everytime.
To this, Leicester City had no other option except shooting the ball from far distance, which had less probability of being on target and kept David De Gea safe.
The only considerable time Leicester City was able to score a goal was in the initial minutes of the game but were impressively denied by De Gea. After that, Brendan Rodgers’ side attempted to get in the ball either from set pieces but were denied by the home side.
#4 Manchester United covered their weaknesses
Manchester United’s lineup was marred with injuries, as Paul pogba and Anthony Martial were ruled out from this game. The biggest setback was for the midfield, since Pogba is the engine of that area in Manchester United’s squad.
Furthermore, out of form Nemanja Matic and Juan Mata were given the responsibility to help Manchester United in this tough hour.
Hence, it was expected that the Red Devils will lose on the midfield battle and indeed they did, but it did not affect the result as the Red Devils came out victorious in the end to get three points.
Adding further, Manchester United’s defence took an added responsibility and covered for all the errors made in midfield and despite Leicester City having more control on the ball, Manchester United were able to capitalize the match due to disciplined defending.
#5 Toothless Manchester United attack
Manchester United struggled in the offensive part of the game. The Red Devils’ front-line were weak against Leicester City’s defence and failed to create.
If it was not for the penalty, the game might have ended in a boring 0-0 game, with both the sides failing to ample amount of chances.
It could be understood that with the absence of Pogba and Martial, Manchester United failed to get the creativity and lethality upfront.
Although, moments of brilliance were seen by Juan Mata inside Leicester City’s 18-yard-box but in the end they came to be of no use. Hence, it would not be wrong to say that Manchester United just managed to fetch a positive result from this game.
Nevertheless, these were much required three points, as since last three match-weeks, Manchester United failed to get a victory in the league but now they finally managed to do so.
