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The opposition must be sick of Marcus Rashford at this point
Marcus Rashford scored twice, and Jadon Sancho added another as Manchester United steamrolled Leicester City in a comfortable 3-0 win in the Premier League.
Rashford took his goal tally to 24 in all competitions this season and scored in his fifth consecutive game for Manchester United, while substitute Sancho added the icing on the cake to give the Red Devils a comfortable victory that puts them back in the conversation for the title race.
Leicester City put up a fight in the first half, but had no answer to Manchester United's second-half dominance and must now go back to the drawing board after the Red Devils ended their recent good form.
How it happened
Manchester United, coming off a very admirable draw at Camp Nou, rested a few players against Leicester, and they showed signs of disruption and fatigue from having played on Thursday in the opening minutes, as Leicester tried to capitalise on their extra days of rest to cause an upset.
It did not help Manchester United’s cause that Leicester were high on confidence after demolishing Tottenham in their last Premier League match, and the Foxes quickly set about trying to do the same to the Red Devils.
They had two guilt-edged chances to score in the opening minutes and should have taken the lead when Harvey Barnes could only force a save out of David De Gea inside 10 minutes.
Nigerian forward Kelechi Iheanacho was next to sting De Gea’s gloves, as he saw his effort repelled by the Spaniard.
Manchester United took a while to find their shooting boots, but when they did, they were immediately in the lead.
Marcus Rashford, scoring for the fifth game in a row, hit a remarkable finish that gave Danny Ward no chance. Rashford’s goal oozed confidence, which is to be expected from the most in-form player in the Premier League.
His goal was enough to give Manchester United a halftime lead, and despite Diogo Dalot managing to miss the best chance of the half, they would have gone into the break knowing that they were the better side, if only just.
If the first half was tight, the second half was anything but. Leicester appeared to accept their fate and allow Manchester United to do as they pleased for the second 45 minutes.
They might have only scored two more goals in the second period, but Manchester United could have had as many as five.
The goals came first through Rashford again, and then through Jadon Sancho who replaced Alejandro Garnacho at halftime.
Sancho could have had a hat-trick, but he missed two chances towards the end that were as ‘difficult’ as the one that he actually put away, while Wout Weghorst also fluffed his lines when given the chance to extend United’s lead.
Regardless, Manchester United would have relished an easy victory that allowed them to rest some key players for the second leg of their Europa League tie against Barcelona.
United back in the title race?
Manchester United’s win over Leicester put them five points behind league leaders Arsenal, although the Gunners have played a game less.
Critically, however, it also puts them just three points behind their noisy neighbours Manchester City, who still have to face Arsenal and could take some points off the Gunners as they have already done.
Manchester United will be hoping that if the CItyzens can help them out against Arsenal, they can in turn secure other results to leapfrog both clubs. Too much of a stretch? Time will tell.
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