MATCH REVIEW - LEICESTER CITY v MANCHESTER UNITED

-By Varun Sangwan and Hitanshu Samantray

MATCH STATS

TALKING POINTS

It was a feisty half from a neutral point of view with both sides looking like going for the kill and secure their fate in Europe's elitest competition. Both created a number of chances with Marcus Rashford trying numerous good long balls to set up Martial and Bruno. We lacked defensively on the other hand with them making some errors notably Harry Maguire and David De Gea who mishandled a ball following a break form Leicester City via Ilhenacho which was their best chance of the first half, and was lucky the offside flag was up against Jamie Vardy just before the drinks break. Liecester were heavily reliant on the counter attack with Manchester United focussing primarily on breaking the lines with Pogba and Bruno threading in good passes. United launched a late onslaught on the Leicester Goal with Kasper Schmiechel parrying away a fierce shot from Marcus Rashford following a corner.

The second half began with Leicester pushing forward a lot putting balls in for Jamie Vardy but United defended well. A good ball from Bruno Fernandes saw Anthony Martial chase it and being tackled by Johnny Evans from which Martin Atkinson gave a penalty confirmed by VAR. Bruno converted from the spot taking his tally to 10 for the season for United with him only have played half a season. Liecester after the goal conceded went full Hollywood or bust with Brendan Rogers making a series of attacking changes. However United defended really well and kept the Leicester strikers at bay. Just near the end of the match, ex-Red Johnny Evans was sent off for a rash tackle on Scott McTominay. Just as the game was about to be over, Jesse Lingard pounced on a Kasper Schmiechel error and scored his first Premier League goal since December 2018 on Ole's first day on the United Job.

PREMIER LEAGUE OVERVIEW

Chelsea beat Wolves 2 - 0 to secure their champions league spot along with Manchester United who beat Leicester by the same score line, joining Liverpool and Manchester City who had already secured their qualification earlier in the season.

Leicester after having been in the top 4 for more than 10 months lost the plot just when it mattered the most and they along with Totenham will have to settle for Europa League. Wolves may still get a chance to get European Football if Chelsea beat Arsenal in the FA Cup Final at Wembley.

The top half of the Premier League

Down Below, Aston Villa pulled off a remarkable escape, having taken 10 points of the last 12 to secure Premier League football for another season. Watford and Bournemouth were relegated and will be joined by Norwich in the lower tier of English football, whose fate had already been sealed earlier.

The Bottom Half...

TACTICS REVIEW

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer named the strongest available eleven for the winner takes all clash against Leicester City. Luke Shaw was not fit enough to be included into the starting eleven or the substitutes and Jesse Lingard returned to the match-day squad- being named on the bench with Diogo Dalot missing out. 

The  formation stayed the same - Solskjaer's mainly used 4-2-3-1. The team that lined up against the Foxes was : 

PLAYER RATINGS

PS : Our player ratings are relative to the best player on the pitch, so the man of the match will maybe always get a 10

GK : DAVID DE GEA  - 6

Didn't really have much to do although we could have payed when he mishandled the ball clode to the first half drinks break..  

LB :  - BRANDON WILLIAMS - 8.5

Ran his socks off today. Was absolutely everywhere - both defensively and offensively. One for the future no doubt...

CB : HARRY MAGUIRE -  6

Had a torrid start to the game with him being a bit sluggish and rash but grew into the game and defnded well. 

CB : VICTOR LINDELOF -  8

Kept Jamie Vardy in check.. And that's not an easy job..

RB: AARON WAN BISSAKA - 7.5

Defensively solid as always. A real shout for United Player of The Year.

CM : NEMANJA MATIC - 6.5

His passing let him down a bit early on in the game but defensively he was a rock - one which Leicester's midfield failed to get past. 

CM : PAUL POGBA - 7

Ran the midfield today..

CAM : BRUNO FERNANDES  -  9

He takes his tally to 10 for the season... Surely one of the best signings we've made.. 

LW: MARCUS RASHFORD - 7.5

Solid game from him. Tried a lot of lofted through ball. Some almost giving United the lead.

RW: MASON GREENWOOD - 7

A little quit today on the attacking front but ran a lot and did his defensive duties well.

ST : ANTHONY MARTIAL - 8

Great movement as always. Has finally found his best position... 

HITANSHU'S VERDICT

It was a bright start from United but that would last only for the first 10 mins or so after which Leceister started pouring numbers forward, putting more pressure on the United back-line leading to Maguire panicking once and losing the ball but Matic cleaned up and then it was a loose ball from Matic and then a ball slipped. It was a nervy first half but we ended strongly with a thumping volley from Rashford and an equivalent save from Schmeichel, but the second half started similarly with Leceister dominating. Though United kept putting in through balls for Martial but they were always a bit too far out for him, but then one such ball reached Martial and he drew in a tackle from both Morgan and Evans leading to a penalty and oh boy Bruno doesn't miss them, and then it was all about holding off Leceister. Lingard finished off the game by drawing out an error from Schmeichel Overall, it wasn't the best performance from United but we got the result. CHAMPIONS LEAGUE HERE WE COME!!! Honestly the biggest achievement of the season would still be Lingard getting a PL goal

VARUN'S VERDICT

We finally get the Champions League places we coveted for.. Ole had a really rough start to the season with him being criticised left right and center and even I was driven near to my tipping point but he finally got us where we deserve to be,, in Europe's Elite competition. The additional funds now should help Ole's transfer plans and Ed Woodward need to make sure that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gets the players he needs to complete his rebuild.

As far as the match was concerned, a solid performance from us defensively and offensively. Every player gave it his all and in the end we were worth the win. Liecester did threaten us a lot but Victor Lindelof and Nemanja Matic were immense with Brandon Williams simply brilliant. Pogba controlled the midfield today with Bruno also chipping in a lot with him trying cheeky passes , one that would eventually lead to us being awarded a penalty which he would convert. Marcus Rashford was solid again and tried to be the creative force today along with Mason Greenwood. Anthony Martial good with his movement as always. Lingard getting on the score-sheet was comical but if that is his last appearance for United, then he couldn't have ended it any better..

It was a match where we needed to get the job done and Ole's Boys did it for us. Now on to the Europa League and next season...

MAN OF THE MATCH

BRUNO FERNANDES : We needed him to deliver and he delivered. Good performance, ran the midfield with Pogba and scored from the spot again. This guy is going to be a monster next season...