Manchester United looked back to their very best on Sunday as they beat Leicester
3-0 at Old Trafford.
Manchester United3
Leicester0
Marcus Rashford continued his fine form as he netted twice while Jadon Sancho completed the scoring late in the second half.
What a difference a year makes
For an indication of just how far Manchester United have come under Erik ten Hag we should wind the clock back to this fixture last year.
It was April 2022, United had won just three of their last 11 games and Ralph Rangnick was their manager.
United would draw 1-1 with Leicester that afternoon to stay in sixth place with Marcus Rashford an unused substitute.
Just 10 months later, the Red Devils are up to third in the Premier League and in this form could be potential title candidates.
The transformation under Ten Hag has been genuinely remarkable and despite swirling headlines off the pitch about potential new ownership, on it United are as good as they’ve been in a decade.
The best around
Simply put, there is no better player in Europe right now than Marcus Rashford.
The trajectory at which he’s sky-rocketed since the World Cup has been genuinely thrilling and it was no surprise to see the England international score again this afternoon.
It was a relatively straightforward ball into his path from Bruno Fernandes but it says everything about how well Rashford is playing at the moment, that at no point did one think he would miss his one-on-one.
It means Rashford has now scored 23 goals in all competitions – his best ever return in a season – with 15 of those coming since Qatar.
He really is unstoppable at the moment.
Steamrollered
This just wasn’t Leicester’s day in the end.
The Foxes came to Old Trafford off the back of two straight wins and a sense that their early season relegation worries are behind them.
And in truth, Leicester really should have opened the scoring early on as first Harvey Barnes was denied by a wonderful David De Gea save and then the Spaniard acrobatically palmed away Kelechi Iheanacho’s effort.
After 20 minutes it was all Leicester but as soon as Rashford netted the first goal in 24 minutes, Brendan Rodgers’ side struggled.
James Maddison showed some classy touches and often looked dangerous with the ball at his feet.
But the defensive pairing of Harry Souttar and Wout Faes really had no answer for Rashford’s pace and direct running.
With Southampton, Crystal Palace and Chelsea up next however, there will be an opportunity for points on the board soon.
