Manchester United ran riot in the second half to beat Leicester City 3-0 at Old Trafford.
Erik ten Hag made five changes to the side which drew to Barcelona at Spotify Camp Nou in mid-week.
Diogo Dalot, Victor Lindelof, Lisandro Martinez, Marcel Sabitzer and Alejandro Garnacho got the opportunity to start.
After early domination by United, the Foxes grew into the game and created several half chances but failed to beat David de Gea.
The host scored against the run of play when Bruno Fernandes’ fantastic outside-of-boot pass found Rashford who fired his shot past Danny Ward.
Soon after half-time, Rashford doubled United’s lead despite initially looking offside on the VAR review.
Substitute Jadon Sancho scored the final goal of the game, making sure that the foxes won’t make a miraculous comeback.
This victory solidifies United’s position at the third spot in the Premier League table, leaving them just three points behind second-placed Manchester City.
Here is what we made of this game.
Manchester United tore Leicester City apart in the second half
Arguably, Brendon Rodger’s team was better than the host in the first 45 minutes. They created more chances only to be denied by David de Gea who made two stunning saves at 0-0.
Leicester got too much space on the right flank with Garnacho failing to track back at times.
Ten Hag switched his attacking third, moving Rashford to the left and Weghorst to his more familiar striker role. Sancho replaced Garnacho and largely operated from the number 10 spot.
With Rashford at the left wing, Castagne did not dare to venture forward as that could have opened up a lot of space for the Englishman.
The Red Devils attacked ferociously, scoring two more goals by the hour mark. Lisandro Martinez could have added another goal but his headed shot was rebounded off the bar.
Marcel Sabitzer got lucky
United should feel lucky that they were not reduced to 10 men when Sabitzer made a nasty challenge on Leicester defender Wout Faes.
The referee didn’t deem Sabitzer’s tackle to be a foul but the replays showed that the midfielder went into the knee of Faes with his studs.
VAR Paul Tierney backed the on-field decision, which might be because the tackle made was without sufficient force or momentum.
Marcus Rashford and David de Gea reach pivotal milestones
With today’s win, De Gea joined Peter Schmeichel on 180 clean sheets for Manchester United. However, it was not an easy one for the Spain international.
He denied Barnes from close range before diving low to obstruct Iheanacho’s header which looked destined to go to the bottom left corner.
De Gea is already one of the most decorated players in United history and holds the record for the 10th-most appearances for the club.
Today’s brace took Rashford’s goal tally to 24 for 2022/23 – his all-time highest in a single campaign.
He also became the first United player since Wayne Rooney to score in 7 successive home Premier League games.
