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Manchester United welcomed Leicester City for their first game after the first international break of this season. The Red Devils came into the game on the back of a string of disappointing results which gave them only five points out of their first four games.
Manchester United missed both Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial for the clash owing to injuries and Jesse Lingard was ruled out due to illness.
The Red Devils scored the only goal of the game in the 8th minute. Caglar Soyuncu brought Marcus Rashford down in the box and gave away a penalty. Rashford stepped up and sent Kasper Schmeichel the wrong way.
There were no other clear opportunities for both teams except one chance for James Maddison early, as the game ended 1-0 in favor of the home side.
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Let us look at three reasons for the Red Devils' victory over the Foxes.
#3 Scott McTominay bossed the midfield
The double-pivot of Pogba and McTominay has been a point of concern for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer so far. With Pogba out today, Nemanja Matic came into the team and this licensed Scott McTominay to play with more freedom.
Paired up with Pogba, McTominay always saw less of the ball and was under par against Wolves and Southampton. Pogba, on the other hand, was caught in possession a lot.
Today, McTominay showed real composure on the ball and off it. Being with a slower player than him, he took the responsibility to move around and did a lot of dirty work. Manchester United pressed tirelessly for the entirety of the game and so did Scott McTominay.
McTominay got 81% of his passes accurately and hit all of his attempted long balls (6/6). He completed 4/6 attempted dribbles as well. Defensively, he won 3/3 aerial duels and 9/16 ground duels.
Also, he made two interceptions, won two of two tackles, and made seven ball recoveries.
A solid performance by Scott McTominay in the midfield and this was a huge catalyst for United's victory.
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#2 A solid defensive effort by the Red Devils
It was a brilliant team effort by Manchester United to get the clean sheet. David de Gea made two brilliant first-half saves, including a close-range strike by James Maddison.
Andreas Pereira, Juan Mata, Daniel James, all helped their midfielders and defenders out in pressing and closing down Leicester players. Jamie Vardy's impact in the game was practically nullified as he gasped for a touch in the first half.
James Maddison who is usually impeccable with his crosses attempted 10 and got none right - 0/10 successful crosses. Maddison also averages over 2 key passes per game this season and he got 0 key passes in against Manchester United. Jamie Vardy got a total of 17 touches in the whole game.
Two of Leicester's biggest attacking threats quarantined - that in itself is a commendable defensive effort.
Harry Maguire won all his attempted tackles (2/2) and won 5/6 aerial duels. Victor Lindelof completed his sole attempted tackle and won all his aerial and ground duels (3/3).
Manchester rode on a solid defensive effort led by their two center backs.
#1 Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his team execute the perfect gameplan
Whether it was intentional or not, this was a perfectly executed game by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. United started the game with high intensity, pressing hard for possession, and switching play quickly to areas around the box and looking to get an early goal. They got into the box and won a penalty due to Soyuncu's rash challenge on Rashford.
After the goal, United dropped their intensity a bit, still pressing for the ball but allowing Leicester City to keep possession and they looked to hit on the counter-attack with Ashley Young, Daniel James, Marcus Rashford and Juan Mata.
After the first half, Leicester grew increasingly threatening on possession and United dropped their attacking tendency and went all in to press and swarm Leicester's players. The Foxes were greeted with jostles, 2vs1 situations, hard tackles, and effective pressing by all of United's players.
However, staying back to defend with numbers and running around would have taken gas out of Manchester's players and Leicester would have caught them on that. Ole saw it and rectified it with two substitutions. Fred for Matic, and Tahith Chong for Juan Mata- fresh legs for aging and tired legs.
Tahith Chong's introduction changed the dimension for Manchester United. They now attacked effectively in addition to their pressing in defensive zones. Chong was oozing with flair and pace and ran riots in front of the Foxes' box. United got a chance or two to add to their tally too.
All in all - it seemed completely planned out and split up into phases. United's gameplan switched from phase to phase and yet one thing that remained common was effective pressing from every player on the pitch.
This is owing to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
