Man Utd close gap after Foxes stroll

Manchester United have moved to within two points of the Champions League qualification places after three goals in seven minutes either side of half-time saw them cruise past Leicester City 3-0 at the King Power Stadium.

After a lacklustre opening, Utd gradually took charge and two goals in two minutes as half-time approached put them in the driving seat; Henrik Mkhitaryan kept his cool to finish off a rapid counter-attack and beat Kasper Schmeichel before Zlatan Ibrahimovic doubled their advantage with a trademark neat finish.

Claudio Ranieri had sounded a rallying call before the game, appealing to all connected with the club to come together to stave off any hopes of them suffering the ignominy of being relegated the season after winning the Premier League but there was little on display to suggest his message was heeded.

Juan Mata took advantage of more woeful defending from the Foxes to combine beautifully with Mkhitaryan before slotting home a third.

With the three points in the bag Utd took their foot off the pedal and eased to a win which leaves them one point behind fifth-placed Liverpool, with Arsenal in fourth a further point ahead.

Jose Mourinho sprang a surprise, starting with a 4-4-2, the recalled Marcus Rashford lining up alongside Ibrahimovic, with Mkhitaryan and Mata on the flanks; Paul Pogba and Ander Herrera made up the central midfield duo.

The opening period of the game featured no chances and little quality and Mourinho was the first to react, moving Mkhitaryan into the number 10 role and the switch began to bear fruit as Utd started to control the ball and stretch the Leicester defence.

Four minutes before the break it was Mkhitaryan who made the breakthrough, Chris Smalling's flicked header finding the Armenian and he beat Robert Huth, held off Wes Morgan before firing a powerful drive goalwards which Kasper Schmeichel couldn't prevent from going flying into the roof of the net.

The visitors took an iron grip on the game just two minutes later when Antonio Valencia's low cross found Ibrahimovic in space and the forward slammed low past Schmeichel for his 20th goal of the campaign.

The hosts made two changes at the restart in the hope of getting back into the game but within four minutes it was over as a contest, Mkhitaryan's cute pass finding Mata in space and he swept a first-time effort past the dive of Schmeichel to make it 3-0.

The remainder of the game was played at a slow pace, Leicester's players showing a worrying lack of application and effort with Utd happy to stroll through the final 40+ minutes left on the clock.

Utd extend their unbeaten league run to 15 matches and can look to their battle for the Champions League with confidence; for Leicester, the threat of relegation now looms larger and they are close to being in freefall.

Source: ISNTV

Photo Getty Images/Catherine Ivill - AMA

More games than ever before! eir Sport will show 23 live games from the Allianz Leagues, including five triple headers. The eir Sport pack is free to eir residential broadband customers.