Rashford Penalty edges Man Utd past Leicester

Manchester United returned to winning ways and ended Leicester’s unbeaten start to the season by edging to a Premier League victory in a pulsating contest at Old Trafford.

After thrashing Chelsea 4-0 on the opening day, United had failed to win any of their last three games but took all the points to inflict Leicester’s first defeat of the campaign.

Marcus Rashford scored the only goal from the penalty spot in the eighth minute after being tripped by Leicester defender Caglar Soyuncu.

Rashford could have got another in the second half, but his wonderful free-kick from 30 yards curled over the wall and onto the angle of crossbar and post.

Defender Harry Maguire, given a torrid reception by the Leicester supporters, came close to scoring against his old side but headed straight at Kasper Schmeichel.

Leicester grew into the contest with the lively James Maddison twice coming close and left-back Ben Chilwell saw his dipping effort tipped over by David de Gea.

The result means United leapfrog their opponents into fourth place, while Leicester drop down to fifth.

Maguire silences Foxes fans

United came into the game on the back of 1-1 draws at Wolves and Southampton, as well as a home loss against Crystal Palace but boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had spoken beforehand about his side performing well without the positive results.

They managed to hold on to victory, which was just their second in their previous 10 league games.

England international Maguire became the world’s most expensive defender when he joined the Red Devils from Leicester for £80m in the summer and played his part as his side kept only their second clean sheet in the last 15.

Jeered by the travelling fans throughout, Maguire would have silenced those taunting him, but saw his towering header from a corner collected by Schmeichel.

On one occasion, he showed good pace to keep up with the fleet-footed Demarai Gray, dispossessing the winger before turning away with the ball, greeted by rapturous applause from the home supporters.

With the Leicester fans singing “we don’t need you, we’ve got Soyuncu” from the first whistle, the Turkish defender fouled Rashford right on cue inside the box, allowing the England forward to send Kasper Schmeichel the wrong way from the penalty spot.

Out-of-favour Nemanja Matic had a decent showing in his first start of the season – in place of the injured Paul Pogba – attempting 41 passes, the most of any home player, while the industrious Scott McTominay had two interceptions and won the ball back seven times.

Andreas Pereira’s free-kick in the opening minute, whipped towards the top corner, was brilliantly pushed away by Schmeichel, watched on by his father Peter, and Daniel James came close to equalling his manager Solskjaer’s record from 1996.

The Welshman was looking to score in his first three Premier League games at Old Trafford with – what is turning into – his trademark skill, cutting in from the left and arrowing a right-footed strike narrowly over.

Away day blues for Leicester

Leicester began the day in third place, harbouring hopes of breaking into the top six for the first time since their league-winning campaign in 2016.

But Brendan Rodgers’ side have work to do as they continued their horrific run against United, now losing 18 times against them – more than any other opponent.

Their frailties lie at the back away from home, failing to keep a clean sheet in their last 11 games on the road and it was a defensive error which cost them this time.

Soyuncu has started the season in impressive fashion but was given a difficult afternoon by Rashford, sticking out a foot to trip the United forward in conceding the penalty and fouling the Englishman on three occasions in the first half. He did improve as the game wore on, winning the ball back a total of nine times.

Leicester could have taken the lead when a long ball from Schmeichel bounced all the way through to Maddison, whose low shot was saved by David de Gea and the England midfielder also curled a free-kick agonisingly wide.

Man of the match – Marcus Rashford (Man Utd)

‘We come away frustrated’ – what they said

Speaking to BBC Sport, Man Utd manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said: “We hung in there. It was the first time this season where we have had to defend for large periods. We have dominated the other games but today we saw a team that could defend in their own half.

“They are a good side who want to get into the top four. To keep a clean sheet is great but let’s not get too excited because we know we can play better. We defended as a proper team.”

On Harry Maguire’s performance: “When you play against strikers like Jamie Vardy, you have to concentrate because if you mistime your run, he is in behind you and I thought Harry did well.”

On his substitutes: “We have a big squad and it is just about getting them ready for when they are needed. They were needed when we were struggling and they did well.”

Speaking to BBC Sport, Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers said: “I thought we deserved something from the game. We didn’t start well but we had a great chance to take the lead. We gave away a soft penalty and that ultimately decided the game. In the second half, we played well and it looked like it was coming but we couldn’t find that last pass.

“We didn’t connect the game through our midfield well enough to serve Jamie [Vardy]. He thrives on that but we were unable to make those passes. We started to get higher up the pitch after the break but nothing really dropped to him. It was a game of few chances for both sides.

“We intended to press the game with those two guys [Hamza Choudhury and Wilfred Ndidi] but when you go a goal down so early on, you have to think about it. We come away from here frustrated which is a good sign, knowing there is improvement in this group of young players.”

BBCSPORTS

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