City Edged By In-Form Red Devils
Claude Puel made just one change to his starting XI as Harvey Barnes made his first Premier League start in place of the injured Marc Albrighton, who missed out due to a hamstring injury sustained on Saturday in training.
Both outfits traded blows in the opening stages, with Nigeria international midfield enforcer Wilfred Ndidi flicking wide of the mark on three minutes, before Rashford nodded over at the other end just 60 seconds later.
However, Rashford took his next opportunity. Capitalising on a loose pass from Ricardo Pereira, Paul Pogba lifted a pass into the Manchester United No.10, who took a touch before firing beyond Kasper Schmeichel.
Only a fine challenge from Red Devils left-back Luke Shaw prevented James Maddison from bagging an immediate equaliser, before the resulting corner was glanced over the crossbar at the near post by Jamie Vardy.
Efforts from Demarai Gray and Harry Maguire followed in the first period, before Academy graduate Barnes curled off target two minutes before the interval and Ricardo forced David De Gea into a comfortable save.
A minute into the second half, Barnes nearly got himself on the scoresheet after flashing a delivery across the face of De Gea’s net before Maddison drilled into the side-netting just moments later.
It was Maddison who played a role in City’s next effort, as his free-kick hit the Man Utd wall and looped up into the path of Vardy, whose overhead kick nearly hauled the Foxes level, only for De Gea to make another save.
Barnes then curled wide on 69 minutes as Puel’s outfit edged closer to an equaliser, while substitute Rachid Ghezzal saw his free-kick clawed out of the top corner after a brilliant stop from De Gea.
A flurry of goalscoring opportunities followed for the hosts. Jonny Evans miscued from six yards out, Vardy had a first-time effort saved and Maguire hooked a shot wide in injury time.
Schmeichel, making his 150th Premier League appearance for the Club, was also on hand late on to deny substitute Anthony Martial, who couldn’t beat the Denmark international from a tight angle.
Major moment
There was little to separate the two outfits across the space of 90 minutes at King Power Stadium on Sunday, with Marcus Rashford’s third goal in his last four Premier League games sealing the points for Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side.
Significant goalscoring chances for Jamie Vardy, Ricardo Pereira and Rachid Ghezzal followed for the Foxes, but they came up against an in-form goalkeeper in Spain international stopper David De Gea.
Who impressed?
“You think the chance is gone, but this young lad, Harvey Barnes, just keeps causing problems for Manchester United.” – Gerry Taggart, LCFC Radio
Harvey Barnes was one of three Leicester City Academy graduates in the squad to face Manchester United, with Ben Chilwell, also starting the game, and substitute Hamza Choudhury completing the trio.
The Countesthorpe-based attacking midfielder was handed his first Premier League start on home soil against the Red Devils, and did not fail to deliver against a side that had won eight of their previous nine games.
His silky footwork and attacking confidence will be of great value to Leicester City in the coming weeks, with fixtures against Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace and Brighton & Hove Albion up next this month.
Where do we stand?
After the latest round of Premier League fixtures, Leicester City now occupy 11th position in the top-flight standings with 13 games to play in the 2018/19 campaign.
Coming up…
City’s string of difficult Premier League matches continues in a week’s time, when they head to Wembley Stadium to face Mauricio Pochettino’s title-chasing Tottenham Hotspur outfit (1:30pm GMT kick-off).