Lakshay Khurana
Manchester United would have probably given up their hopes for Champions League qualification next season as they drew against Leicester City at home. The Foxes were totally dominated by the hosts but managed to keep the score level, defending well against average attacks. Ranieri’s side would have been the champions of this season already if they would’ve clinched three points at Old Trafford, but the hosts had their own purpose of winning.
Let’s discuss the four major talking points from the game as United’s qualification in the Champions League is in further doubt.
- Surprisingly, Manchester United were too dominant against the league leaders.
Van Gaal’s men put forward a great game overall against Leicester City and that too in a prime fashion. United allowed the visitors to keep only 30% ball possession. They had attempted 21 (6 on target) shots in total, while the potential champions had only 14 (3 on target).
The hosts had completed 591 passes in total against 249 passes from the opposition.
Call it home advantage or absence of Jamie Vardy, but one cannot deny their complete dominance in Sunday’s match. At least, statistically.
- Anthony Martial proving his worth.
The performance of the French forward has been extremely impressive lately. His finishing and movement inside the box has been improving day-by-day. With his speedy runs down the flank and putting the ball at the back of the net, Martial has proved to be worth his price-tag and also, United’s best forward. After assisting a goal and then scoring another in the dying minutes against Everton, sending his team to the F.A Cup finals, Martial scored yet another goal with an easy-on-the-eyes finish in the 8th minute of the game against the league leaders.
- Rojo should not be played for the remaining matches.
Marcos Rojo has been nothing more than a nuisance in recent games. The Argentine has been failing to get his defensive responsibilities to work out along with his poor effort and composure during attacks. Rouge failed to mark Wes Morgan, which resulted in Leicester’s goal in the 16th minute. It wasn’t the only occasion where Rojo failed to win an aerial duel against Wes Morgan. The Argentine was lucky to have gotten away with the silly tackle on Mahrez which would’ve resulted in a penalty.
- Is Rooney a natural and permanent midfielder now?
Rooney has without a doubt, adjusted himself to the central attacking midfield position. His passing game has been the key element in United’s attacks. The long balls out to the flanks and through passes inside the box, is what gets the team going. Losing his knack of scoring goals, he has developed himself into a perfect no.10 role player. Rooney completed 66 of his 77 passes at a rate of 85.7 per cent on Sunday. The defensive rate of the skipper is almost as high as any player who actually plays at the back. He completed 10 ball recoveries against Leicester, while having two shots on target, forcing Kasper Schmeichel into danger.
