Logo

Logo

Premier League: Super-subs guide Manchester United past Leicester City

Three wins from three and United go into the international break at the top of the league table!

Premier League: Super-subs guide Manchester United past Leicester City

Manchester United midfielders Jesse Lingard (top) and Marouane Fellaini celebrate their second goal (Photo: AFP)

Goals from substitutes Marcus Rashford and Marouane Fellaini kept Manchester United’s winning streak alive, and the Red Devils beat Leicester City 2-0 in their Premier League tie at Manchester United on Saturday night.

Rashford, dropped from the side in favour of Anthony Martial, came on in the 70th minute and within three minutes of his introduction, had broken the deadlock.

Henrikh Mkhtiarayn got his fifth assist of the season when his pin-point corner found an unmarked Rashford inside the box and the 19-year-old’s volley had enough pace to beat Kasper Schmeichel.

Advertisement

Rashford jumps for joy after breaking the deadlock (Photo: AFP)

And Marouane Fellani’s knee made sure of United’s three points with eight minutes remaining after he guided in fellow substitute Jesse Lingard’s shot from what seemed to be an offside position.

Once again, Jose Mourinho’s substitutions proved to be inspired, for while the Red Devils never truly were in danger of conceding, after Romelu Lukaku’s penalty miss early on in the second-half, chances of a draw were high.

Mourinho’s men took their time to get going once again! (Photo: AFP)
Paul Pogba (R) was unlucky not to score (Photo: AFP)

United began the first-half in dominant fashion with Paul Pogba coming close to breaking the deadlock on several occasions, but his attempts, from a variety of ranges, all narrowly missed the target.

Juan Mata got in on the act and forced a fine save out of Schmeichel early on with Leicester hardly getting the ball to seriously threaten United keeper David de Gea.

The Foxes somehow hung on till the interval but the second period began with the home side in the driver’s seat and Old Trafford thought the goal had come when former United and current Leicester full-back Danny Simpson handled the ball inside the box in the 52nd minute.

Lukaku, who had scored three goals in his first two games since his summer move from Everton, stepped up and while his spot-kick had plenty of power, it wasn’t placed well enough and Schmeichel guessed the direction to come up with a firm stop.

Power didn’t pay off for Lukaku this time! (Photo: AFP)

As the clock ticked, the United faithful urged the Red Devils to find a goal that would clinch them their third win on the trot.

And like last week at Swansea, Mourinho’s subs made the difference, scoring two vital goals to ensure that the Red Devils will go into the international break at the top of the Premier League table.

Against the form team in the league, Leicester put up a decent display and while they did eventually come away from Old Trafford with nothing, they will have to take solace from the fact that currently it’s difficult to deny this United side a win.

In Saturday’s early kick-off , Manchester City scraped a 2-1 win at Bournemouth and later Newcastle United registered their first win of the season by thrashing West Ham United 3-0. Huddersfield Town’s winning streak came to an end as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Southampton while Brighton drew 0-0 at Watford. Swansea City stunned Crystal Palace 2-0 to round-off the day’s games.

Advertisement