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Forward Marcus Rashford continued to shine, helping Man Utd defeat Leicester 3-0 in the 24th round of the English Premier League on the evening of February 19th.
This is Rashford's fifth consecutive game scoring for Man Utd. His brace helped him raise his total number of goals on all fronts this season to 24, a career record for the 25-year-old striker. Notably, 16 of those goals were scored after the 2022 World Cup, a tournament in which Rashford also played very successfully, scoring three goals for the England national team. Exclusively on home turf, Rashford has scored 17 goals in the 2022-2023 season, becoming the player with the most goals at Old Trafford since Wayne Rooney in the 2011-2012 season.
The game did not start well for Manchester United. After a promising start, they struggled against the speedy counterattacks on the right wing from Leicester. Home midfielders like Fred or Marcel Sabitzer repeatedly made mistakes and lost the ball. In the ninth minute, Man Utd needed the talent of David De Gea to prevent a goal as Harvey Barnes broke through to face him after a combination with Kelechi Iheanacho.
In the following minutes, the Man Utd goal was under alarm. Fred and Victor Lindelof played scramblingly to prevent chances from reaching Iheanacho and Barnes. When the home defenders made positional mistakes, allowing Iheanacho to comfortably head the ball after a cross from Timothy Castagne, De Gea made another superb save to prevent a goal.
Amidst the difficulties, Man Utd opened the scoring. It was Leicester's turn to make a mistake as Wout Faes' pass was intercepted by Sabitzer. Bruno Fernandes skillfully flicked the ball outside, and Harry Souttar's positional error allowed Rashford to break the offside trap before beating goalkeeper Danny Ward.
Man Utd played more comfortably after taking the lead. They passed the ball more carefully, not giving Leicester a chance to counterattack. If they had shot better, the home team would have increased the gap in the first half. Diogo Dalot surged forward from his own half and combined with Fernandes, but his shot went wide.
After the break, Erik ten Hag brought on Jadon Sancho to replace Alejandro Garnacho, pushing Rashford to his favored left-wing position. This made the home team's attack even more powerful. Man Utd made it clear that they intended to dominate their opponents, and Leicester was lucky not to concede when Lisandro Martinez headed Luke Shaw's free-kick onto the crossbar. Rashford then shot straight at Ward after beating two Leicester players.
However, the home fans didn't have to wait long for the second goal. From a press-breaking play at home, Fred played a through ball for Rashford to break down the left wing, beating Castagne before shooting past Ward's outstretched legs. At first, the linesman flagged for offside, but VAR confirmed that Rashford was only a hair's breadth ahead of Faes.
With their spirits high, Man Utd scored their third goal just five minutes later. This time, Rashford was the catalyst, dribbling down the middle and passing to Sancho. The English international then passed to Fernandes, who finished from close range. This play showed how well Ten Hag had built Man Utd's playing style, with the attacking players moving from their positions while still maintaining the team's shape.
Sancho could have scored a second goal like Rashford if he had taken advantage of his one-on-one opportunity 10 minutes later. Wout Weghorst dropped back to the midfield to contest the ball and then passed to Sancho, but he hesitated, allowing Faes to intervene. In the remaining minutes, the Man Utd players wanted to create an opportunity for Weghorst to score his first goal in the Premier League as a tribute to his contribution to the team's playing style.
However, the Dutch forward was rather unlucky. He headed wide from Fernandes' free-kick. In the final minutes, Sancho returned the favor to Weghorst with a through ball, putting the 30-year-old forward in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper, but his shot was saved by Ward.
With this victory, Man Utd closed the gap with second-placed Man City to just three points. This was also a favorable momentum for the "Red Devils" before they face Barca in the second leg of the Europa League knock-out play-off round next week.
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