United The Winners At Old Trafford
Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring with a well-taken low hit on 17 minutes, with Victor Kristiansen's own goal doubling the Red Devils' lead seven minutes before the break. A sumptuous hit from Alejandro Garnacho, on the other hand, put the game beyond City later on, making it three with eight minutes to play. It's a disappointing end to a busy spell for Steve Cooper's men, who sit 15th, after contesting three successive away games, two at Old Trafford. Chelsea will be the visitors to King Power Stadium after the international break for a 12:30pm GMT kick-off on Saturday 23 November. The omission of Jamie Vardy and Ricardo Pereira – both injured – was the headline of City’s team news before kick-off. It presented opportunities, nevertheless, for the introduction of Jordan Ayew and Boubakary Soumaré, both of whom helped Cooper’s men rescue a point at Ipswich Town last weekend.
Silence fell on Old Trafford before the game for the sounding of The Last Post, continuing the nation’s tributes to service men and women in the armed forces during this year’s Remembrance period. With Red Devils legend Ruud van Nistelrooy still in temporary charge, holding the fort until Rúben Amorim’s arrival tomorrow, there’s a newfound optimism in the red half of Manchester, despite their league standing. Indeed, a win for Leicester would have taken them above the 20-time English champions going into the final international break of the calendar year. It had been an encouraging start from the visitors, holding the ball up well enough and looking to hit United with a fast turn of pace. In the 16th minute, mind you, they were behind. Amad’s back-heel pass to Fernandes unlocked the City defence, extending an invitation for the Portuguese to curl it low into the far corner from the left angle of the penalty area. Despite some bright passages of play, it took Leicester until the 25th minute to test André Onana, the Man Utd goalkeeper. Facundo Buonanotte’s free-kick was floated into the box, in front of the Stretford End, but a Wilfred Ndidi header was directly at the shot-stopper. The Nigerian’s next sight of goal was a far bigger missed opportunity. It was the same combination which got Leicester moving. Buonanotte’s dinked through-ball split their defence in two, with Ndidi bursting onto it down the middle. He took a touch and tried to chip it over Onana, although the former Ajax and Inter Milan man had it covered. Harry Winks, on the other hand, also tested Onana, sending a curler into his grasp from 20 yards out. For all of their progress, however, Leicester were one Man Utd break away from losing further ground. Before the interval, that’s exactly what happened, as Noussair Mazraoui’s cross was nodded on by Fernandes, finding the net courtesy of an unfortunate deflection off Kristiansen. It could have been worse, too, if not for a solid stop from Mads Hermansen with his legs to frustrate Amad just before the half-time whistle.
Into the second half, United seemed content to sit on their advantage, believing opportunities to counter would come as Leicester hunted an equaliser. Van Nistelrooy’s men were tough to break down, though, and chances were hard to come by. Ayew, the hero at Portman Road, went close midway through the second half, forcing Onana to divert his low arrow behind. Garnacho, a second-half substitute, also skied one moments later – a precursor to a magnificent third for his side. Teed up by Fernandes, sliding the ball across to the left channel, the Argentinian cut inside and whipped it into the top corner. With less than eight minutes of normal time to play, the game was now beyond Cooper’s men in the North West. There were fleeting moments of promise but not enough to build a platform on, with Leicester now looking elsewhere for the points required to climb further away from the relegation zone. A busy winter schedule awaits once they return from international action, with eight games still to contest before the New Year.