Manchester United made it three wins on the spin after they beat Leicester City 1-0 at the King Power Stadium.
Erik Ten Hag’s side started confidently in possession and the impressive Christian Eriksen almost put the Old Trafford outfit on 10 minutes, but his whipped effort from the edge of the area whistled past Danny’s Ward’s post.
On 22 minutes Man United would take a deserved lead through England international attacker Jadon Sancho. United’s skipper Bruno Fernandes found himself in acres of space down Leicester’s right, the playmaker moved the ball onto Marcus Rashford who slipped a delicate pass in behind the Foxes backline for Sancho to run onto, round Ward, and coolly slot into the open goal.
Brendan Rodger’s Leicester had been dreadful during the opening period, but a James Maddison free-kick forced David de Gea into a fine save early on after the break and that seemed to lift the home crowd.
While the Foxes had a decent spell after that they struggled to create any clear cut chances against a United defence marshalled by the classy Raphael Varane.
United had loads of possession in the final third but frustratingly they consistently allowed moves to break down and apart from a acrobatic effort from substitute Cristiano Ronaldo they never really like adding a second goal to their tally.
Tonight’s encounter was far from a classic and seemed to be fizzling out as it entered injury time, although a hopeful punt forward from Leicester ended up at the feet of James Justin in the United area but the full back blasted his effort high and wide.
The Red Devils move up to fifth in the Premier League table and speaking afterward their manager Ten Hag felt tonight’s was a step in the right direction for his side.
“It is another step forward so I am happy with that,” Ten Hag told BT Sport.
“We showed good team spirit. We had 11 players the on pitch who fought for each other and scored a lovely team goal.
Leicester City 0-1 Manchester United FT:
xG: 0.6-1.38
Shots: 10-9
Shots on target: 2-2
Possession: 53.9%-46.1%
Touches in opp. box: 10-26
Corners: 1-3A third straight win for Erik ten Hag’s United. đŸ‘¹ pic.twitter.com/fZ13AQHo7s
— Squawka News (@SquawkaNews) September 1, 2022
“Still, there is improvements to make but that is normal at this stage of the season.
“There were many spaces that we did not exploit that well. With better decisions we should have scored a second goal. We have to be more ruthless, but, as I said there is room for improvement.
The Dutch coach also discussed his happiness with goalscorer Sancho’s performance and a second clean sheet in a row.
“Jadon had a good pre-season and you can see he can make a difference, but also the whole team can make a difference – I think it was a great team goal. I am also happy with the clean sheet. When we have 11 players on the pitch who can defend and attack together, and we have energy, you see what you can achieve.”
Next up for United is a clash with league leaders Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday.
