Krishnan Sreekumar
Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick reflects on his side’s 1-1 draw against Leicester City in the Premier League
Speaking to MUTV and Sky Sports after his side’s 1-1 draw against Leicester City, as quoted by the club’s official website, Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick said that his team managed a fair result.
Heading back to Premier League action after a fortnight due to the international break, United could only treat their home supporters to a drab draw, dropping two crucial points in the race for fourth place in the league table.
Rangnick said that it was a fair result to have at the end of the day, given that both teams could have scored one or two more goals. However, he did admit that his team were going for all three points, but had to settle for one.
“With regards to the result, obviously we had hoped for three points but if you look at the whole game in total, the whole 95 minutes, I think that was a fair result. Both teams could have scored one or two goals more but if you look at the whole game, the result was fair.”
The result leaves the Red Devils in sixth place, level on points with Tottenham Hotspur who are fifth. However, Spurs are yet to play their game this weekend, and if they beat Newcastle United, they could pull three points clear of us.
“The reaction of the team was good”
Fred grabbed an equaliser for Rangnick’s men, thumping home his effort from close range after Kasper Schmeichel spilled Bruno Fernandes’ shot at goal straight into the path of the Brazilian. Minutes before, the Foxes had taken the lead through a brilliant header from Kelechi Iheanacho.
The German boss said that his team’s reaction was good after conceding the goal, but unlike the game against West Ham or Spurs, they could not come up with a late winner due to a lack of offensive players.
“After conceding the goal, the reaction of the team was good. I couldn’t say that they didn’t try and even in the last 15 minutes, we tried with all we could to score a goal. In this game we didn’t score that late goal like we did in the game against West Ham or Tottenham. But as I said, we don’t have that many offensive players any more.”
Offensive players were certainly missing, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani not present in the matchday squad after being ruled out of the game. This left Marcus Rashford as our only fit striker, but the Englishman had to settle for a place on the bench.
Rangnick instead opted to play Fernandes as a false nine, but the Portugal international was unable to effectively lead the line for the side, although he did claim an assist. Rashford got his chance to shine as well, but the 24-year-old was unable to make any impact.
More Manchester United News
- Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick speaks out about ‘obvious’ rebuild required at the club this summer
- Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans could be sold in the summer, with Manchester United interested in the player
- Several Manchester United fans react on Twitter as the 1-1 draw to Leicester dents hopes of a top-four finish
Despite Rangnick’s claim of not having enough offensive players on the pitch, a squad like ours has enough talent to come up with a goal against a poor Leicester side last night. Jadon Sancho, Anthony Elanga, Paul Pogba, Fernandes, and Rashford all took to the pitch, but the attacking players were underwhelming.
The race for the top four is heating up now, and results like this at home will not help. Up next, we face Everton at Goodison Park, and nothing less than a win against the Toffees will help our case to finish in fourth place by the end of the season.
