Man Utd crush Leicester, move closer to top four

Jose Mourinho's students won 3-0 right on the field of the defending champion, thereby reducing the gap with Arsenal to two points.

Ibrahimovic scored his 15th goal for Man Utd in the Premier League. Photo: Reuters.

Goals: Mkhitaryan (42'), Ibrahimovic (44'), Mata (49').

The defeat leaves Leicester just one point above the relegation zone. Claudio Ranieri's side are yet to win in 2017 and continue to show weakness in midfield. Leicester's possession was just 35% compared to their opponents' 65% and the home midfielders were stuck in getting the ball forward, leaving their attack vulnerable.

This is Man Utd's 15th consecutive unbeaten match in the Premier League. They are now just one point behind Liverpool and two points behind Arsenal, who are in fourth place. In this match, Man Utd started with a 4-4-2 formation, with Marcus Rashford partnering Zlatan Ibrahimovic up front. However, after an ineffective first 20 minutes, Mourinho instructed his players to switch to a 4-2-3-1. Clearly, this formation worked better.

In the 88 seconds between the 42nd and 44th minutes, Man Utd scored two consecutive goals, allowing them to play comfortably for the rest of the match. The first scorer of the match was Henrikh Mkhitaryan. The Armenian midfielder received the ball from Chris Smalling's header, then sprinted from midfield, finishing past Kasper Schmeichel.

Morgan had a terrible match, being at fault for all three goals conceded. Photo: Reuters.

Ibrahimovic soon followed, collecting a cross from Valencia and slotting it into the back of the net. It was the Swedish striker's 15th goal in the Premier League this season, making him the oldest player to reach that milestone in a single season. Ibrahimovic has scored at least 10 more goals than any other Man Utd player.

In Man Utd's first two goals, Leicester's defense was clearly loose and slow. In the opening goal, the home defenders could not keep up with Mkhitaryan's speed, allowing him to run from midfield into the box and score. In the second goal, Leicester's two central defenders, Wes Morgan and Roberth Huth, were both in the box but allowed Ibrahimovic to finish freely.

When Mourinho pulled Rashford down, joining Mkhitaryan and Mata to form a trio behind Ibrahimovic, Leicester's midfield and defence seemed helpless against the pace and movement of these players. In the 49th minute, a simple pass between Mkhitaryan and Mata easily eliminated the home defenders, allowing the Spanish midfielder to beat Schmeichel in a one-on-one.

Leicester is just one point away from the relegation zone. Photo: Reuters.

After the third goal, there were at least two situations where Man Utd players broke Leicester's offside trap and caused trouble for Schmeichel's goal. First was Rashford's sprint and left-footed shot in the 52nd minute, followed by Mata's free-flowing run in the 62nd minute. The former Chelsea midfielder tried to flick the ball over Schmeichel's head but failed.

The BBC rated Mkhitaryan as the man of the match, with a goal and an assist, and was the orchestrator of United’s attacks. In contrast, it was a poor game for Leicester captain Wes Morgan, who was at fault for all three of his team’s goals, looked woefully sluggish against the opposition’s pacers and failed to command his defence.

According to VNE