Erik ten Hag did three things right as Man Utd defeated Leicester City – opinion

Man Utd continued their fine run of Premier League results as they maintained their staggering unbeaten home run in the league by beating Leicester City on Sunday

Manchester United

Man Utd cruised to victory against Leicester City

Goals from Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho helped Man Utd see off Leicester City at Old Trafford on Sunday.

The Foxes had looked threatening during the first half before Rashford gave the hosts the lead before the interval, ahead of grabbing a second once the sides emerged for the second 45. Erik ten Hag had his goalkeeper to thank for keeping the visitors out early on, as David de Gea produced two stunning saves to deny Harvey Barnes and Kelechi Iheanacho.

With that in mind, here are three things the United manager got right as the Red Devils brushed Brendan Rodgers’ team aside.

Faith in David de Gea

David de Gea was superb for United

David de Gea was superb for United

United fans would have forgiven Ten Hag for opting to ditch De Gea as his first choice goalkeeper in the summer, with Dean Henderson waiting in the wings to come into the fold.

His decision to stick with De Gea has proven inspired, though, and the Spaniard again showed why at Old Trafford on Sunday. De Gea produced two fine saves at 0-0 to keep the visitors out, first denying Barnes with an outstretched hand when the winger was in on goal.

He then bettered the stop minutes later as he got down to his right to parry away a powerful header from Iheanacho and keep the match goalless.

Giving Marcus Rashford roaming role

Marcus Rashford

Marcus Rashford scored twice to continue his fine form

Rashford continued his stunning goalscoring form this season as he grabbed his 23rd goal of the season, the most he has managed in his senior career.

The role handed to him by Ten Hag on Sunday allowed the England forward the opportunity to get on the scoresheet, with Rashford able to operate across the attacking third ahead of Wout Weghorst.

Weghorst’s deeper role in the first half left Rashford free to hamper the Leicester defence with his pace, which he did to devastating effect by beating the offside trap to latch onto Bruno Fernades’ pass before firing past Danny Ward to open the scoring in the first half.

The introduction of Jadon Sancho at half-time saw Rashford moved to the left wing, where he was equally threatening, again staying onside to race clear and finish, doubling United’s lead shortly before the hour mark.

Bringing on Jadon Sancho

Jadon Sancho

Jadon Sancho came off the bench to grab a third for Man Utd

Despite taking the lead during the first half, United’s performance in the opening 45 minutes was far from perfect.

As a result, Ten Hag looked to his substitutes bench during the interval, with Sancho coming on before the second half to replace Alejandro Garnacho. Sancho’s introduction saw United return to a traditional front three, with Rashford on the left and Weghorst down the middle.

Just minutes after Rashford had grabbed his second, Sancho scored his second goal in three league matches to make it 3-0, the England winger getting on the end of a one-two with Bruno Fernandes to smash the ball into the back of the net.

source: www.dailystar.co.uk

 

Related Posts