Leicester City 0, Manchester United 1
Jadon Sancho scored the only goal as Manchester United notched up their third win on the trot – against an insipid Leicester City.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Foxes were without Wesley Fofana who had signed for Chelsea and were roundly booed by their home fans as the Reds dealt with what little threat they faced from their hosts who finished the day rock bottom in the Premier League with just 1 point from 5 games while United went fifth.
“We didn’t get the help this team needed. We just didn’t look competitive.” admitted Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers.
United boss Erik ten Hag was happy with the result but said that there was room for improvement.
He said: “It’s another step forward, with good team spirit and eleven players on the pitch who will fight for each other.
“But there’s still room for improvement.
“We can be dangerous in transitions but there were many spaces we didn’t exploit that well and we should have scored a second goal.
And he praised matchwinner Jadon Sancho as one of the players who have responded well to his coaching, adding: “Jadon can made the difference after a good pre-season.
“I’m happy with a clean sheet, you can see that when you have eleven players on the pitch who defend together the team has energy.”
He refused to be drawn on whether new signing Antony could feature against Arsenal on Sunday and claimed that United’s spending spree was over for the current transfer window.
He stated: “The window is closed for now.”
United were unchanged from the side that beat Southampton on Saturday – Cristiano Ronaldo, Casemiro, and fit-again Victor Lindelof were on the bench with new signings £85.4m 22 year old Brazil winger Antony (from Ajax) and 33 year old Martin Dubrava (on loan from Newcastle United) to come by the weekend.
The Reds were looking to build on two wins in a row against Liverpool and Southampton after a pair of defeats to start their season.
But neither side imposed themselves at the King Power Stadium until United pounced.
Christian Eriksen dragged a shot wide as United struggled to overcome a packed Foxes central midfield but they looked increasingly solid in defence with Raphael Varane continuing to partner popular centre half Lisandro Martinez.
Jadon Sancho proves the difference against poor Foxes
And after 23 minutes Jadon Sancho rounded Danny Ward and rolled the ball past him after Marcus Rashford picked him out following a swift United break by Bruno Fernandes with Leicester’s makeshift defence all at sea.
It was the second goal of the season for Sancho albeit against a defensive pairing of Johnny Evans and out of position Wilfried Ndidi.
Eriksen tried a long range shot which Ward saved while Harvey Barnes curled a shot over from a distance as Leicester couldn’t break down the United defence.
James Maddison, who had a mixed evening, tried a long range free kick with David De Gea had to palm away after the Foxes had a decent bit of possession in the second half.
United responded by sending on Casemiro who replaced the lively Anthony Elanga after 59 minutes as the Reds looked to increase their control of midfield.
United repelled another Maddison free kick before Ronaldo was introduced for Sancho after 68 minutes.
Youri Tielemans was replaced by Kelechi Iheanacho for the last 14 minutes while Patson Data replaced a frustrated Jamie Vardy late on as the Foxes had to try and rescue a point.
Ronaldo’s overhead kick would have put the icing on the cake with six minutes to go but it bounced wide.
Sensing a late push by Leicester, Fred was brought on to replace Rashford as United had to survive late scares when Iheanacho, Maddison, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and James Justin had shots as the game went to added time.