In the Premier League, Manchester United easily defeated Leicester City with a 3-0 victory at Old Trafford thanks to Marcus Rashford’s continued impressive goal-scoring streak. For the best sports betting casinos of March 2023, check out CasinoDaddy!
Jadon Sancho came off the bench to add a third goal after Marcus Rashford had already scored twice to make it 16 goals in 17 games since the World Cup.
Although the game remained scoreless, David de Gea had to make some fantastic stops from Harvey Barnes and Kelechi Iheanacho, but Erik ten Hag’s squad was in control as soon as Rashford scored his first, midway through the first half, as they closed the gap on league leaders Arsenal to five points.
Man United riding an upbeat wave
Even if the games are coming thick and fast and important players are suffering injuries, United has momentum at a vital point in the season. They had to withstand a Leicester blizzard for 20 minutes, mostly because of De Gea, but in the end, it was so comfortable that Ten Hag could bring on Rashford and Luke Shaw early as he focused on Barcelona’s visit to Old Trafford on Thursday.
The week will begin with United behind Arsenal by just five points at the top of the Premier League standings, and if they can defeat Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday at Wembley, they might advance to the Europa League (at Barcelona’s cost) and win a trophy. In addition to all of that, it appears that the Glazer family’s ownership, which many supporters have detested for almost 20 years, is about to expire.
The agony of those first two losses to Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford feels like a distant memory. With David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, there were brief moments of excitement. Still, in the ten years since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, optimism has never been higher at United.
Rashford’s decision to take the lead himself after being sent through by Bruno Fernandes with a chance to give United the lead speaks everything about his astronomical confidence. The Rashford of last year would have likely passed the ball to Alejandro Garnacho for a tap-in goal, but when a striker is on fire, it is the last thing on his mind.
After the World Cup, Rashford scored 16 goals in 17 games for a season total of 24 goals. It’s only February, yet it’s already his greatest season total. With United still in four competitions, he could easily reach 40 before the end of the campaign. After scoring just five times in all matches the previous season, this is a tremendous turnaround.
Ten Hag gets a lot of praise, but Rashford also merits praise for his forceful comeback. He’ll put himself in the running for the top individual awards if his performance keeps up.
Rashford would be United’s first winner since Wayne Rooney in 2010. Manchester City and Liverpool have dominated the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award for the previous five years.
Leicester paid for early wasted opportunities.
Before Rashford’s intervention, Leicester was clearly in the lead and, on another day, may have gone up 3-0 in only 20 minutes. Kelechi Iheanacho had another good chance snuffed out by Victor Lindelof when he should have at least hit the target, and United can thank David De Gea for two outstanding saves, the first coming as he rushed out to stop Harvey Barnes and the second coming from a header that was sneaking inside the post.
After scoring eight goals in their previous two league games against Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester hasn’t had an issue scoring goals, but they paid a price at Old Trafford for failing to score in the first minutes. That would have been a different game against a United squad that looked like they were recovering from a Barcelona hangover if any of those opportunities had been converted.
Once Wout Faes made a mistake that led to Rashford’s opening goal, the game was over. There were then two fast goals after halftime to put a stop to the match. Brendan Rodgers will think Marcel Sabitzer was fortunate to remain on the field after a nasty-looking challenge at 1-0, but Leicester only has themselves to blame for their inability to come up with a win.
