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Manchester United travelled to the King Power Stadium on Sunday to face a Leicester City side who had held Liverpool to a 1-1 at Anfield last week. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer knew the threat possessed by the opposition and as such, made 4 changes to the team that drew to Burnley in midweek.
He brought in Eric Bailly for Phil Jones and Ander Herrera for Andreas Pereira. In the front three, Lingard and Sanchez replaced Lukaku and Mata. The rest of the team remained the same.
Chelsea had opened up a 5 point gap at fourth place thanks to their win over Huddersfield on Saturday. With Arsenal due to play Manchester City later, Solskjaer knew that he had a golden opportunity in his hands. A win would bring the gap back to 2 points and would give United a chance to eye the fifth spot depending on the result of the Arsenal-City game.
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United started the game well and were rewarded in the 9th minute when Marcus Rashford scored the opening goal. Leicester piled on the pressure on the United defence and did not allow the away team to settle down. However, United defended deep to go into the break with a 1-0 lead.
In the second half, Leicester City threw the kitchen sink at United and went close to scoring on a couple of times, as de Gea kept his cool and kept United in the game. In the end, Rashford's goal was enough to see United through.
Even though the performance on the night had a lot of scope for improvements, Solskjaer will be mighty pleased with the result. Here are 5 tactics from the Norwegian that won United all 3 points.
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#5 Team Selection
The Norwegian made a few smart changes to his team. With Martial still not a 100 % fit, he opted for Alexis Sanchez and Lingard to partner Rashford up front. He also put in Bailly in place of Phil Jones in the back four.
And he brought his midfield dynamo, Ander Herrera, back into the team. It was his team selection that ensured that United could play the counter-attacking football that is the club's strength right now.
Sanchez and Lingard kept the pressure on the home side, Herrera was a livewire in the middle and Bailly was rock solid at the back. When Leicester piled on the pressure in the second half, the Norwegian brought on Martial and Lukaku to keep the home defence on their toes.
In the last few minutes of the game, Leicester came knocking with all their might and Solskjaer acknowledged that his defence needed reassuring, so he made a defensive substitution, bringing on Jones for Lingard.
The Norwegian's awareness of his team helped Manchester United earn all 3 points on the night.
#4 Dictating the tempo of the game
After securing an early lead, Manchester United were clever with their use of the ball. They changed the tempo of the game as per their requirement and never allowed Leicester to take control of the game.
They slowed down whenever Leicester grew in stature and immediately transformed to fast counter attacking playing whenever the home team threw bodies forward. This ensured that Leicester never quite dictated the play and the lead was intact in the first half.
After the break, the home side came out stronger and threatened to score. They had a strong first 10 minutes, but United held on and stayed compact. The away side continued to set the tempo of the game and managed to stay in control. Solskjaer made a couple of attacking changes, but Leicester kept piling on the pressure on United.
By the end of the second half, Solskjaer was riding his luck on a couple of occasions. However, in the end, it was enough to see United through, as Solskjaer's team earned a hard-fought 3 points.
#3 Attacking Intent in an away game
Pitted against a Leicester City team who had troubled Liverpool in midweek, the Norwegian could have been forgiven had he opted for a cautious approach. However, Solskjaer showed amazing fearlessness and courage as he opted for a very attacking line up that looked to catch the home team on the counter.
United were up quite early in the game and should have been at least 2 goals up in the first half as Rashford was guilty of missing an easy opportunity.
In the second half, with Leicester piling on the pressure, Solskjaer brought on the fresh legs of Lukaku and Martial, opting for attacking substitutions to peg Leicester back. The Frenchman had an excellent chance to double the score but shot straight at Schmeichel.
However, with the home team growing in confidence with every passing minute, the Norwegian finally had to give in to the temptations of securing his lead and he opted to bring on Jones for Lingard in the dying minutes.
The Norwegian's ambition paid dividends on the night, even though, there is a lot of improvement opportunities that he would like to delve on now.
#2 Proactive midfield
The midfield that Solskajer selected for the game has been his favoured three and there are many reasons why. All three are very capable on the ball and can actually play in varied positions. As such, the Norwegian's midfield is very dynamic and against Leicester, the three men did the job for their manager exceedingly well.
Pogba, as usual, was the farthest forward, Herrera was on box-to-box duties and Matic was the holding player. Against Leicester, the midfield three were extremely proactive and did not just stick to their roles.
Pogba dropped deep at times, as did Herrera and Matic bombed forward. The pressing in the middle, led by a viscous Herrera, was impressive again and all three carried out their defensive duties with efficiency.
Leicester could never cope up with the dynamic nature of the three in the middle and as such, United dictated the play from the deep. When the tides changed in the dying minutes of the second half, the midfield looked quite comfortable defending their lead and denied Leicester any chances from the middle.
Solskjaer's midfield three were vital on the night and the Norwegian will be very pleased with them.
#1 Rashford as the No. 9
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the draw against Burnley was that United missed Rashford's liveliness and qualities through the middle. Even though Lukaku is a capable striker, Rashford brings a lot of different qualities to this team and restricting him to a role from the left hampered his and United's performances as a whole.
Solskjaer noticed this and made his most important change on the night. He put Lukaku on the bench and he started his English starlet as the No. 9.
Immediately, the team looked different. Rashford's speed, energy and power through the middle gave the United midfield a lot of options. The youngster also kept the home defence under continued pressure with his pressing off the ball. But it was his runs through the middle that tore Leicester apart and it was from one such run that United took the lead.
The Englishman had missed a sitter just a few minutes into the game, but it did not seem to hamper his confidence. When a stray ball fell to Pogba, Rashford immediately embarked on an intelligent run into the box.
Pogba noticed his teammate and set him free with a gem of a ball. Rashford's first touch was exquisite and his finish was clinical. It was a sign of a confident man, who has the backing of his manager.
Against Leicester, Solskjaer's decision to set Rashford free through the middle won United the game.
