Premier League: Manchester Utd vs Leicester 3-0 Report

Manchester United easily defeated Leicester City 3-0 at Old Trafford to move five points away from the top of the Premier League.

Marcus Rashford continued his fine form with two goals as Manchester United beat Leicester City 3-0 at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

The England international scored twice and took it up to 24 for the season before Jadon Sancho added his name to the goalscoring chart to cap an impressive second-half performance for the Red Devils.

The result took Manchester United to 49 points from 24 games, which kept them third in the table but reduced the gap to second-placed Manchester City to three points.

Leicester remain 14th in the division with Brendan Rodgers’ side suffering their first defeat in England’s top flight since mid-January.

Leicester had a golden chance to take the lead in the eighth minute when Kelechi Iheanacho found Harvey Barnes right inside the Man United penalty area but David de Gea made an excellent save to keep the 0-0.

From the resulting corner, the guests came closer again, Harry Souttar headed over the bar.

Leicester were full of energy and had another chance in the 10th minute when Iheanacho blocked a shot from Victor Lindelof before the Nigerian hit the bar in the ensuing attack.

Tete overplayed De Gea’s goal in the 18th minute as Man United struggled to take control of midfield without Casemiro having to serve out the last game of his three-game suspension.

De Gea made another wonderful save to prevent an Iheanacho header in the 21st minute and his stops were crucial as Man United opened the scoring through Rashford in the 25th minute.

The Englishman smashed Leicester’s offside trap and ran to a Bruno Fernandes pass before slamming the ball into the bottom corner of the net to add 23 goals for the season.

Leicester continued to threaten when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall put one in close to the Man United post in the 31st minute.

Diogo Dalot had a golden chance in the 37th minute to give the home side a two-goal lead when Fernandes found the right-back with a brilliant cross but somehow missed the bar from close range.

Just a goal separated the two teams at half-time but Leicester unfortunately fell behind and the visitors came close again late in the first half, with James Maddison just missing the target.

Lisandro Martinez had a brilliant chance to score a second for Man United in the 49th minute when he volleyed a Luke Shaw free-kick but his header hit the bar.

Fernandes sliced off Danny Ward’s palms from distance before the Leicester keeper saved from Rashford, with the 20-time English champions making the strongest start to the second half.

Wout Weghorst hit one of the Leicester crossbars after Fred’s header in the 54th minute as Man United looked to score a second at Old Trafford.

Rashford then doubled Man United’s lead in the 56th minute when he sped into the Leicester penalty area and finished under Ward. The attacker was flagged for offside by the linesman, but a VAR check showed he was level with the last defender.

Man United then scored a third goal in the 62nd minute, with Sancho on the scorer’s chart and combining with Fernandes before firing the shot into the back net from close range.

Ward blocked Shaw’s shot in the 63rd minute before Sancho had two chances to score a second in the 69th minute. The first shot was blocked before hitting the rebound over the bar.

Weghorst then headed wide of the Leicester bar in the 70th minute, with Man United missing several chances in quick succession to score a fourth goal.

Weghorst was thwarted again by Ward in the 87th minute after excellent work from Sancho, with the Netherlands international waiting for his first goal at Old Trafford.

Erik ten Hag’s side have won three of their four league games since the 3-2 defeat at Arsenal and are five points behind leaders Gunners.

Man United will now turn their attention to the Europa League as they prepare to host Barcelona for the second leg of their qualifying campaign at Old Trafford on Thursday.

The Red Devils meet Newcastle United in next Sunday’s EFL Cup final before meeting West Ham United in the fifth round of the FA Cup on March 1. The team will not return to the Premier League until March 5 against Liverpool.

Leicester, meanwhile, will continue their Premier League season at home to division leaders Arsenal next Saturday.

Lineups:

Subs not used: Heaton, Malacia, Varane, Pellistri

Subs not used: Iversen, Amartey, Daka, Pereira, Ndidi

Bookings:

Man Of the Match: Marcus Rashford