Sports

Manchester United Thrash Leicester 3-0

Published

7 years ago

February 5, 2017

Two goals in the last five minutes of the first half propelled the Red Devils three points and have plunged the champions into even greater trouble

Manchester United gave their top-four aspirations a major boost as they cruised to a 3-0 win at Premier League champions Leicester City on Sunday.

Goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Juan Mata brought an end to a run of three consecutive league draws for Jose Mourinho’s side, who are now two points behind fourth-placed Arsenal.

Leicester had lost their last three games in the top flight and only beaten United once in 17 previous meetings, but Claudio Ranieri’s side produced the kind of combative display that underpinned their stunning success last term for much of the first half.

That was until United seized control of the match with two goals in the space of two minutes, Mkhitaryan breaking the deadlock with a powerful run and finish before Ibrahimovic became the oldest player to reach 15 goals in a Premier League season at the age of 35 years and 125 days.

Leicester fans had called for Mata to be sent off for a first-half challenge on Jamie Vardy and their frustrations were compounded when the Spain international made it 3-0 after half-time, having combined brilliantly with Mkhitaryan.

The match became a procession for United in the second half as they responded to weekend defeats for Arsenal and Liverpool to give themselves real hope of clawing their way back into the Champions League places.

For Leicester, a defeat in their 2,000th game in England’s top flight leaves them firmly in a relegation fight, with the gap to the bottom three still only one point.