United v Leicester: Five Talking Points

Manchester United recorded a second home win of the season on Saturday, courtesy of Marcus Rashford’s first-half penalty in a 1-0 win over Leicester City.

It was tough game against a side who many believe will challenge towards the upper echelons of the Premier League this year.

The match was packed full of incident and talking points, but we’ve selected five from a tense afternoon at Old Trafford…

ANOTHER PENALTY

A lot has been made of the Reds’ penalty-takers this year, but, with Paul Pogba not on the pitch, there was no doubt who was taking this spot-kick. Rashford may have hit the woodwork from 12 yards against Crystal Palace but he stood up and looked to be calmest man in the ground when he slotted the ball past Kasper Schmeichel for the only goal of the game. It was a fourth spot-kick of the campaign already for United and means Schmeichel has now conceded more penalty goals in the Premier League than his United icon father Peter, who was in attendance.

RASHFORD LOVES SCORING AGAINST LEICESTER

Just like our last meeting with the Foxes in February, Marcus grabbed the only goal in a 1-0 win. His penalty against Brendan Rodgers’s side means he has now scored four times in nine clashes with the East Midlanders - that’s more than he’s netted against any other team!

FANS' SUPPORT FOR MAGUIRE

Harry Maguire predictably received a less-than-friendly reception from the away supporters, but the Old Trafford faithful were keen to show their love for our summer signing. His early touches in the game were cheered by the majority inside Old Trafford, while his second-half tackle on Demarai Gray received a standing ovation. The home fans also reserved a nice welcome for popular former Red Jonny Evans, who played well for the Foxes at the heart of their defence.

CLEAN SHEET FOR THE REDS

David De Gea registered his second clean sheet of the season, and his first since the opening-day victory against Chelsea. The Spaniard pulled off two top-quality saves too. The first came after just four minutes, when he did well to stop James Maddison’s point-blank strike with his feet, while, later in the half, he parried Ben Chilwell’s piledriver over the crossbar. The latter was made even better considering how late our no.1 saw the ball. David was, of course, helped by the excellent defence which was marshaled by the superb Maguire and composed Victor Lindelof.

FRED, CHONG & TUANZEBE FEATURE

Three United players made their first appearances of the season: Fred, Tahith Chong and Axel Tuanzebe. It was a testing game to be thrown into, but the trio all played well for the Reds, especially Chong. The winger gave right-back Ricardo Pereira a torrid afternoon down our left flank, at times, and showed plenty of silky, skilful touches. Brazilian Fred also caught the eye after replacing Nemanja Matic. As for Axel, it was his first game for United in 20 months following loans spells with Aston Villa over the past two seasons.