Leicester 0-1 Manchester United: Three Things We Learned From Third Straight Win

Manchester United who until last week looked the most vulnerable side in the Premier League away from home have grinded back to back wins on the road.

Erik ten Hag’s men dominated Leicester right from the start, and picked the Foxes apart on transition in the 23rd minute to take the lead through Jadon Sancho.

Brendan Rodgers’ side, who are still without a win this season, never really managed to open the spirited United defence, and had to depend on James Maddison to wake up David de Gea, who didn’t have to do much to keep his second clean sheet of the season.

Here’s what we learned from Thursday night’s trip to the King Power Stadium.

1. Sancho and Rashford

Ten Hag once again went with the young frontline, keeping Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench for the third straight game.

Both Sancho and Marcus Rashford did well to exploit space behind Leicester’s backline and combined to open the scoring. Sancho controlled Rashford’s lay-off before rounding Danny Ward to find the back of the net.

Their pace and work off the ball has been immense for the Dutch coach’s counter-attacking approach. However, to keep their place in the Starting XI, the England duo need to make better decisions throughout the 90 minutes rather than producing flashes of brilliance.

 

2. Eriksen is Key

Christian Eriksen was United’s best player in the middle of the park. The Dane was calm as ever in possession and kept things ticking during build-up. And was deservedly awarded the Man of the Match award.

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In United’s last three wins he has looked knackered late in the second-half, but such has been his importance that Ten Hag has had to wait until the last moments of the game to take him off.

It won’t be easy for the former Tottenham Hotspur man to produce another master class against Arsenal’s intense pressing this weekend if he’s handed yet another start.

 

3. United’s New Backline

Against Liverpool, the new United boss took a bold decision to bench Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw in favour of Raphael Varane and Tyrell Malacia.

The Dutchman has been rewarded for his selection accordingly, as his new-look backline of Diogo Dalot, Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Malacia have been absolutely solid in their last three games.

The two straight clean sheets is the least they deserve for their intensity as well as technical quality. A similar performance against Arsenal will more or less confirm them as Ten Hag’s first-choice options to guard United’s defence.