Manchester : Manchester United dismantled Premier League champions Leicester in a ruthless 20-minute burst as Jose Mourinho’s decision to drop Wayne Rooney was rewarded with a 4-1 win at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Leicester imploded defensively as United racked up four goals between the 22nd and 42nd minutes. It was a stylish display from a United side who had entered the game under pressure after losing their last two league games, against Manchester City and Watford, with Chris Smalling opening the scoring after replacing Rooney as captain.
Juan Mata, Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba, with his first United goal following his world record GBP 89 million arrival from Juventus, were also on target after England captain Rooney was dropped.
But it was a chastening afternoon for Leicester despite an improved second-half display and a brilliant consolation goal from half-time substitute Demarai Gray. It was the second successive Premier League away game in which Leicester had shipped four goals after doing so at Liverpool two weeks ago.
United added a second goal as they turned on the style eight minutes before half-time. Ander Herrera started the move with a fine ball to Mata before a clever pass by Pogba and a fine flick by Jesse Lingard allowed Mata to blast past Zieler. And the third goal arrived just two minutes later as Leicester handed a chance to Rashford which the youngster snapped up. It was 4-0 before half-time as another corner by Blind was headed in by Pogba as he leapt above Christian Fuchs.
Leicester made a double change at half-time. It was one of the half-time substitutes who salvaged a modicum of respectability for Leicester with a goal of real quality on the hour-mark. Gray collected a crossfield pass from Daniel Amartey and cut inside Lingard before lashing a brilliant shot past a helpless De Gea from 25 yards.
