Manchester United v Leicester City:
Premier League stutters Manchester United welcomed last seasons surprise champions Leicester City to Old Trafford as Jose Mourinho's side looked to avoid 3 consecutive league defeats. Claudio Ranieri's side of back to winning ways last time out in the league beating sorry Burnley 3-0 at the King Power stadium, before crashing out of the EFL cup, losing 4-2 against Chelsea after extra-time. Mourinho's men were defeated by Watford in their last league fixture, coming off the wrong side of a 3-1 defeat, before getting back to winning ways on Wednesday, beating Northampton Town 3-1 to setup a Manchester Derby tie in the fourth round. Mourinho made the difficult decision to drop his captain Wayne Rooney after some rather disappointing form as of late. While Ranieri continued with Islam Slimani and Jamie Vardy leading the line for 'The Foxes', with the Algerian netting twice on his debut since his move from Sporting Lisbon.
Marcus Rashford made a decent run early on only for centre-half Wes Morgan to get back and make a good recovery challenge. A good start from the home side seen Paul Pogba ping a good ball out to the attacking Antonio Valencia who's cross was cleared to Daley Blind who'll half volley sailed over the bar and out for a goal kick. United won themselves a corner after Valencia's ball was deflected off Christian Fuchs, before former United stopper Ron-Robert Zieler cleared, a ball back into the area seen Zlatan Ibrahimovic volley high and wide. Leicester came forward well with Fuchs' delivery well held by David De Gea. A decent spell of possession won United a corner after some good progress from Daley Blind who came in for the injured Luke Shaw. From the resulting corner, stand in United captain Chris Smalling headed past Zieler to give his side a deserved lead. A good counter attack from United sent Ibrahimovic away and the big Swede found the oncoming Marcus Rashford who's first touch ran the ball a tad wide as the on rushing Zieler did enough to put off the youngster who fired wide. United were really starting to settle as we approached the half hour mark, and should have found a second after a sumptuous past from Pogba found Ibrahimovic who could only fire over the crossbar after showing some excellent chest control. Paul Pogba forced a good save from Zieler as the Frenchman spotted him off his line and let fly from range only for the German to scramble across his goal and keep a certain goal out. A good tackle from Danny Drinkwater seen Marcus Rashford dispossessed after a good counter attack. Another fantastic move from United resulted in the second goal. A great passing move ended with Paul Pogba finding Jesse Lingard who turned it round the the corner for Juan Mata to find the corner from a difficult chance, 2-0 United. A clever corner routine from United caught Leicester off guard as Juan Mata picked up the ball at the byline before squaring for Marcus Rashford to slide home on theline for 3-0, game over? Claudio Ranieri's side were falling apart at the seems as United grabbed a 4th. Another corner which wasn't defended ending up with world record signing Paul Pogba powered home unmarked with a delightful header to grab his first ever goal for United, game set and match. The referee called for the end of the first half as the defending champions were shell shocked.
The second period began with two substitutes for the champions, Andy King and Demarai Gray introduced for Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy, seems as if Ranieri has accepted defeat and has one eye on that Champions League tie at home to Porto. United were searching for a fifth as Pogba found Rashford who was eventually dispossessed by Danny Drinkwater. Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his way into the penalty area and a poor touch found Juan Mata who's half chance was blocked. After a good delivery from Danny Drinkwater, Islam Slimani collected the ball and found Demarai Gray who cut inside onto his right foot and left De Gea for dead with a super strike from outside the area, 4-1. Leicester made their third and final change as Jeffrey Schlupp replaced Marc Albrighton with just under a half an hour to play. A good move again from United was wasted as Antonio Valencia made his way down the right and found Jesse Lingard on the edge of the area but his first time shot was high and wide over Zieler's crossbar. Both teams were very efficient in front of goal with United scoring four of their five shots on target while Leicester scored one from one. Ibrahimovic seen his edge of the box effort just deflected wide on the post as United looked for a fifth to put the the game beyond all doubt. Jeffrey Schlupp made his way down the left flank and squared for fellow substitute Andy King who could only find De Gea with his tame effort. With just under fifteen minutes remaining, Demarai Gray again nearly beat De Gea but the Spaniard was equal to it this time. Mourinho made his first change of the afternoon as Jesse Lingard was replaced by Michael Carrick as Jose looked to sure up his midfield. Mourinho introduced Wayne Rooney for the last five or so minutes as he replaced goal scorer Marcus Rashford. Mourinho made his last change as England Forward Ashley Young replaced Juan Mata. United looked to just keep the ball in the last minutes as the referee decided on 3 minutes of added time. The referee sounded the full time whistle as United got back to winning ways in spectacular fashion, with a 4-1 thumping of the champions, another plus for United was the Man of The Match performance from Paul Pogba as he looked superb in the midfield this afternoon.
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Marcus Rashford made a decent run early on only for centre-half Wes Morgan to get back and make a good recovery challenge. A good start from the home side seen Paul Pogba ping a good ball out to the attacking Antonio Valencia who's cross was cleared to Daley Blind who'll half volley sailed over the bar and out for a goal kick. United won themselves a corner after Valencia's ball was deflected off Christian Fuchs, before former United stopper Ron-Robert Zieler cleared, a ball back into the area seen Zlatan Ibrahimovic volley high and wide. Leicester came forward well with Fuchs' delivery well held by David De Gea. A decent spell of possession won United a corner after some good progress from Daley Blind who came in for the injured Luke Shaw. From the resulting corner, stand in United captain Chris Smalling headed past Zieler to give his side a deserved lead. A good counter attack from United sent Ibrahimovic away and the big Swede found the oncoming Marcus Rashford who's first touch ran the ball a tad wide as the on rushing Zieler did enough to put off the youngster who fired wide. United were really starting to settle as we approached the half hour mark, and should have found a second after a sumptuous past from Pogba found Ibrahimovic who could only fire over the crossbar after showing some excellent chest control. Paul Pogba forced a good save from Zieler as the Frenchman spotted him off his line and let fly from range only for the German to scramble across his goal and keep a certain goal out. A good tackle from Danny Drinkwater seen Marcus Rashford dispossessed after a good counter attack. Another fantastic move from United resulted in the second goal. A great passing move ended with Paul Pogba finding Jesse Lingard who turned it round the the corner for Juan Mata to find the corner from a difficult chance, 2-0 United. A clever corner routine from United caught Leicester off guard as Juan Mata picked up the ball at the byline before squaring for Marcus Rashford to slide home on theline for 3-0, game over? Claudio Ranieri's side were falling apart at the seems as United grabbed a 4th. Another corner which wasn't defended ending up with world record signing Paul Pogba powered home unmarked with a delightful header to grab his first ever goal for United, game set and match. The referee called for the end of the first half as the defending champions were shell shocked.
The second period began with two substitutes for the champions, Andy King and Demarai Gray introduced for Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy, seems as if Ranieri has accepted defeat and has one eye on that Champions League tie at home to Porto. United were searching for a fifth as Pogba found Rashford who was eventually dispossessed by Danny Drinkwater. Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his way into the penalty area and a poor touch found Juan Mata who's half chance was blocked. After a good delivery from Danny Drinkwater, Islam Slimani collected the ball and found Demarai Gray who cut inside onto his right foot and left De Gea for dead with a super strike from outside the area, 4-1. Leicester made their third and final change as Jeffrey Schlupp replaced Marc Albrighton with just under a half an hour to play. A good move again from United was wasted as Antonio Valencia made his way down the right and found Jesse Lingard on the edge of the area but his first time shot was high and wide over Zieler's crossbar. Both teams were very efficient in front of goal with United scoring four of their five shots on target while Leicester scored one from one. Ibrahimovic seen his edge of the box effort just deflected wide on the post as United looked for a fifth to put the the game beyond all doubt. Jeffrey Schlupp made his way down the left flank and squared for fellow substitute Andy King who could only find De Gea with his tame effort. With just under fifteen minutes remaining, Demarai Gray again nearly beat De Gea but the Spaniard was equal to it this time. Mourinho made his first change of the afternoon as Jesse Lingard was replaced by Michael Carrick as Jose looked to sure up his midfield. Mourinho introduced Wayne Rooney for the last five or so minutes as he replaced goal scorer Marcus Rashford. Mourinho made his last change as England Forward Ashley Young replaced Juan Mata. United looked to just keep the ball in the last minutes as the referee decided on 3 minutes of added time. The referee sounded the full time whistle as United got back to winning ways in spectacular fashion, with a 4-1 thumping of the champions, another plus for United was the Man of The Match performance from Paul Pogba as he looked superb in the midfield this afternoon.
Please like, comment and follow for daily football news and opinions.
Requests:markeyross198.RM@gmail.com
Ross
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