Man United 3 Leicester City 0: built from the back, got counter-attacked
A quick look at Sunday’s scoreline in isolation might have led minds wandering back to dark weeks of the recent past – times when losing 3-0 was fully expected, deserved and a soul-destroying experience for 90 minutes.
So it said a lot for this whipping at Old Trafford that we didn't walk away from it wanting to rage tweet, kick the family pet or burn an effigy of Brendan Rodgers just before his four-year anniversary in charge of the team.
In truth, it could have been a lot worse as Manchester United squandered late opportunities against a team out of gas, but somehow this really wasn't as bad as it looked. For the first half – particularly a lively first 20 minutes where the shot count read nine to three in Leicester's favour, capped with a second fine stop from David de Gea to keep out Kelechi Iheanacho – this was a team that felt very right and looked alive.
Even a scan of the teamsheet before kick-off offered great promise: a genuinely strong bench featuring the likes of Youri Tielemans, Jamie Vardy, Patson Daka, Bouba Soumaré, Wilfred Ndidi and Ricardo Pereira. A squad nearing full fitness. Options, baby!
Get into ‘em
Then that opening salvo. Aggression high upfield. Confidence on the ball to craft frequent openings. Harry Souttar dominating the skies like a rambunctious giant. Manchester United ruffled at Old Trafford and waiting to fall behind. The sort of verve that didn’t exist at any point this season before January's supermarket sweep, but is now becoming a pattern.
Much like conceding the first goal in a game, then. Because Manchester United never did fall behind – instead, that high pressure and a scruffy swipe into midfield from Wout Faes led to a lightning counter-attack that Marcus Rashford snaffled with authoritative aplomb. That’s how it’s done, lads.
Pleasingly, we didn't crumble after this. The reaction to going behind once again was very good; fresh memories of comebacks against Aston Villa and Tottenham suggested this might not be the end after all, as Leicester went for it. But it was. James Maddison did his best to conduct the revival before half-time, but a lack of finesse when it mattered – from him but particularly Tete (tricky but erratic) and Iheanacho (scruffy and sorry on this occasion) meant that was that.
The second half was a far more difficult watch as Leicester got punished by Rashford for a repeat goal, Faes became increasingly unstable and Man United hit a quick third to kill the game after an hour. In fairness to Faes, it was always going to be a challenging game for him – when asked to survive on the edge of a high line, you're going to see the best and worst from him.
All a bit of fun ‘til someone gets done
The final half-hour was a non-event: Brendan's boys barely troubled De Gea and a confident Man United pushed on with ease. Erik ten Hag has turned them into a very handy team that might well finish in the top two this season – there's no great shame in losing away to them.
Naturally, though, there are obvious worries: despite much to admire in the last three games, we're still looking susceptible whenever anyone breaks on us. The goals were obviously all preventable. Danny Ward has limped on this far, but simply can't be the long-term answer – he didn't cover himself in glory for either Rashford goal and raises questions once again.
But we'll much prefer to remember the good of this game, and even the smallest flashes of fun that this team is now capable of. Tete might have played in square boots on Sunday, but to see him flick a stepover, cut inside and get a shot away is something we just haven't seen from any player in his position for years. Harvey Barnes looks revitalised too, meaning Maddison now has an able bunch around him to support his consistent class.
Anyway, TL;DR: we'll forgive Rodgers on this one. We had a good go, got burned in a fireball and died a vainglorious death. We've seen a lot, lot worse in 2022-23.
