Leicester City 0-1 Manchester United: The Reds go fifth after a tight win
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer remained unbeaten 10 games into his caretaker reign of Manchester United as Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba combined to earn a 1-0 win against Leicester City on Sunday to take the Red Devils closer to the top-4.
An early goal from Marcus Rashford was enough to down the Foxes as Manchester United held out to move above Arsenal into fifth place and within two points of fourth-placed Chelsea.
The game started at a good pace, with the Reds dominating possession and should have taken the lead in the opening minutes when Luke Shaw’s clipped cross from the left found Rashford. But the young forward was just unable to keep his shot down across Kasper Schmeichel’s goal.
But the England striker made amends a few minutes later. Ricardo Pereira was the guilty party for Leicester with a misplaced pass that was intercepted by Pogba and lobbed over the top of the Foxes defence to Rashford, who controlled the beautifully before firing past the onrushing Schmeichel into the net.
However, United’s intensity level dropped after going ahead in the ninth minute and they created little before half-time as Leicester clawed their way back in the game. The Foxes produced a positive response with only a superbly-timed block from Shaw preventing James Maddison from potentially equalising with just David de Gea to beat.
Jonny Evans could have done better with a header at the back post, while Harvey Barnes curled his effort just wide off the far post as Leicester ended the half on a high.
The Foxes came out flying after the break, with De Gea ensuring Barnes’ effort from the angle was going wide within a minute of the restart.
Maddison’s deflected free-kick was met acrobatically by Jamie Vardy but the Manchester United goalkeeper did well to save. But the Spaniard’s best save came from substitute Rachid Ghezzal’s free-kick that arrowed towards the top corner.
Leicester laid siege towards the United goal in search of an equaliser but Solskjaer’s men kept their nerves to hold onto a crucial victory at the King Power Stadium.
Read more: Man United’s £31m star is picking up the pace and Solskjaer’s side looks solid around him – opinion
After a gritty 1-0 win at Leicester, here’s how some Manchester United fans reacted on Twitter.
25 points. From 27.
Get in. #OléOléOléOlé#MUFC— Robbie Maguire 🇮🇪 🇾🇪 (@MaguireRobbie) February 3, 2019
10 unbeaten matches 👏😘
GGMU— 🇬🇧🇲🇽 Yulissa Low (@YuliLow) February 3, 2019
Not a brilliant performance but another 3 points at a tough ground. Winning when you’re not at your best is always a positive sign!
— J.A.O (@JuanAnderOnly) February 3, 2019
Oh thank god…. Sloppy today but 3 important points GGMU ❤️❤️
— subbu (@subbu_MUFC) February 3, 2019
Worst we’ve played under Ole. But we’ll take the 3 points!
— Young Josh (@yjosh87) February 3, 2019
Tough game that, not the greatest performance but good sign to get the 3 points when not at our best! #UTFR 🔴🔴
— Sean Farley (@Football_Sean1) February 3, 2019
De gea and Lindelof solid as usual! Bailey was good as well!!💪🏼
— Harald Federer (@frustratedcitze) February 3, 2019
Huge win today lads #MUFC
— THE POWER MUFC 🇾🇪 (@EamonnPower23) February 3, 2019
Our worst performance yet but a win is a win. GGMU!
— 🥶 (@MUFC_DUA) February 3, 2019
