Will Power

Sunday, August 27, 2017

Premier League: Man. United 2 Leicester City 0

Manchester United continued the winning streak in the Premier League thanks to second-half strikes from substitutes Marcus Rashford and Marouane Fellaini.

After Romelu Lukaku had seen a penalty saved after the break, Rashford got the opener in the 70th minute from Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s corner, before Fellaini added a second from close range eight minutes from time.

United did have the ball in the net inside the opening 20 minutes, Juan Mata seizing on the rebound of Lukaku’s shot, but it was ruled out when Mata was flagged offside.

The Reds had the share of possession in the first half and that was in no small part down to United’s midfield dominance against their Leicester counterparts. Although a goal was lacking for Mourinho's men, United created plenty of chances in the opening 45 minutes, which included Paul Pogba sending a couple of excellent efforts just wide and Mata forcing Kasper Schmeichel to make an impressive diving save.

United had a fantastic chance to take the lead seven minutes into the second half as referee Michael Oliver gave a penalty against Danny Simpson for handling Anthony Martial’s cross. Lukaku stepped up to take the spot-kick but couldn’t convert as Schmeichel guessed the right way to push it away.

The breakthrough came when Mkhitaryan’s corner found Rashford with pin-point accuracy and he volleyed home from 10 yards.

A second goal followed in the closing stages, when Fellaini diverted fellow substitute Jesse Lingard's shot past Schmeichel to give the hosts breathing space.

The United defence was hardly tested throughout, although David De Gea made a superb point-blank stop from Andy King in stoppage time, as the Reds recorded a third consecutive clean sheet and return to the Premier League summit.

THE LINE-UPS

United: De Gea; Valencia (c), Bailly, Jones, Blind; Matic, Pogba; Mata (Rashford 67), Mkhitaryan (Fellaini 73), Martial (Lingard 75); Lukaku.

Subs not used: Romero, Darmian, Smalling, Herrera.

Booked: Mkhitaryan

Leicester City: Schmeichel; Simpson, Morgan (c), Maguire, Fuchs; Mahrez, Ndidi, James, Albrighton (Gray 60); Okazaki (King 60), Vardy (Slimani 75).

Subs not used: Harmer, Chilwell , Amartey, Iheanacho.

Booked: James, Schmeichel

TALKING POINTS

Substitutes make the difference
Rashford, Fellaini and Lingard all made an impact from the bench, producing both goals and an assist between them. Their good work adds to some strong United substitute performances in the opening two matches of the season, where Martial twice came on to score. Rashford, who made way for Martial to start, made sure to take his chance – striking just three minutes after being introduced into the action, and United have now had six different scorers in the opening three league games.

Bolt comes to Old Trafford
Making use of his retirement from sprinting, Usain Bolt was in attendance at Old Trafford, enjoying the view from the Directors’ Box. Bolt, a massive United fan, tweeted about his visit, which included spending time with Sir Alex Ferguson and taking a closer look at last season's silverware. There had been talk about the Jamaican Sprinter taking part in next weekend’s legends match, but he is unavailable due to the injury he sustained at the World Championships in London.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR UNITED?
There is no Premier League action next weekend due to the international break, so the next outing will be in a fortnight’s time (Saturday 9 September at 17:30 BST) away at former Red Mark Hughes’ Stoke City. United have won 12 of the 18 Premier League meetings against the Potters, but were unable to beat them last season, drawing 1-1 both home and away.

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