(Football news) In-form striker Marcus Rashford surpassed his best ever goal scoring tally (22 goals) by scoring a brace against Leicester City at Old Trafford. The Red Devils had an abysmal first half as the Foxes had the better opportunities but were denied by David de Gea. Rashford then found the back of the net in the 25th minute after Bruno Fernandes gave a sublime assist, giving his team the lead against the run of play. Erik ten Hag’s side then doubled their advantage in the 56th minute through Rashford thanks to VAR intervention as the goal was initially disallowed for offside. Jadon Sancho added Manchester United’s third in the 71st minute with a fantastic team goal.

The result meant that Manchester United closed the gap on second place Manchester City to just three points after Pep Guardiola’s side drew to Nottingham Forest. The game had a few controversial moments as midfielder Marcel Sabitzer was fortunate not to be sent off after a high challenge on Leicester defender Wout Faes.

David de Gea was instrumental in keeping his side in the game, especially in the first half, making two crucial saves in the opening 20 minutes which ultimately resulted in a clean sheet and Leicester’s three game winning streak coming to an end. Old Trafford has become a fortress once again under Erik ten Hag as they are unbeaten at home in 17 games and they will now take on FC Barcelona in the second leg of the Europa League play-off match before taking on Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final at the Wembley Stadium.

Speaking after the match, Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said “We’re happy with the result, it’s a great result. When you play every third day you can’t always get to your same performance. Today was really tough. First half Leicester played brilliantly, we were rubbish, the way we were really undisciplined. We had problems and it was only because of David de Gea that we had a clean sheet at half-time. Luckily we had half-time, we could repair some things and the second half was brilliant. There was a lot of pleasure, it was enjoyable to watch how we created so many chances and scored great goals.”

“Rashford is getting in the positions but don’t forget the team. I want to highlight Bruno again. Two great assists. There are so many players that can pass [Rashford] the ball in the right moment like Bruno, Jadon, Fred. Sancho is in the right direction. He does not know his limits and there’s a lot of space for improvement, though already he is at a high level. We don’t think about the title race. We think about the next game, Thursday is going to be a big game for us. We have to fight, to make Old Trafford a fortress and the game plan has to be right.”

Leicester City manager Brendan Rogers said “Disappointing result in the end. I thought the first half was excellent. We created the best opportunities, and we looked like a real threat. De Gea makes a great save. We made the mistake for the first goal and that was probably the best chance they had. Marcus Rashford is in great form and is very clinical [with his finish]. We had to come out and gain control and we didn’t quite do that.

“We gave away a disappointing second goal and the third goal quickly after and that saw the game go away from us. It was a disappointing second half, lots to look at in the first half and take into our next game. The first save [against Harvey Barnes], I was talking to our goalkeeper coach, who was saying just how good a save it is from a goalkeeper’s perspective. Harvey makes a great run and takes it quickly, but De Gea’s reaction was superb.”

Marcus Rashford said “I don’t feel like slowing down and always want to improve. It’s still early in the season, we’re fighting for a lot of different things and we have another big game in the week to hopefully go through to the next round of the Europa League and then a massive game for us [with the Carabao Cup final]. We’re close but both teams in front of us are good teams and playing good football. We have to just focus on ourselves, do as well as we can and keep picking up points.”

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