FIVE ASIDES Premier League: United 3, Leicester 0
Marcus Rashford’s goals were magnificent – crisp, clinical and commanding. And he scored two rather than his usual one, even if his overall performance went the other way. Starting upfront, he was marked out of the game early on by Harry Souttar, the Weghorst of the Midlands, who then made one fatal mistake, playing Rashford onside for the first goal. At half-time Erik ten Hag shrewdly moved Rashford to the left, out of Souttar’s reach. He saw more of the ball but continued to blow hot and cold.
Still, you can afford to do that when you put your team 2-0 up and you’ve got Barca on your mind. The first of Rashford’s lethal finishes today made 2022/23 his most successful season – beating 22 club goals (in 2020/21), reaching 23. That was his target for the season, as he said, with refreshing frankness, in a TV interview the other day. Now he has 24, not to mention three for England in the World Cup (in hardly any minutes). Since returning from Qatar he has helped himself to 10 league goals, the same as the whole Liverpool squad and four more than Chelsea or Newcastle. He has another six goals in the cups over the same period, so it all adds up to 16 in 61 days. It’s the kind of hot streak we thought could only be achieved by men named Haaland.
Bruno Fernandes was robbed. He was the real man of the match, even better than Rashford. He was electric, he was dynamic, he was everywhere. He got an assist for the goal that turned the match and another for the one that sealed the win. He sprayed key passes around as if he’d had a private bet with Kevin De Bruyne to see who could wreak the most havoc in one match. He stayed on for the whole game, even as half of United’s outfield players trotted off to save their legs for Barcelona. On Sofascore, Fernandes was awarded 9.7 marks out of ten for this performance; on Whoscored, 9.9. And he was playing out of position! There’s just one problem: United’s best No 10 is now also their best right-winger.
It was a resounding result, but as a team, United did quite a lot wrong. In the first half they were chaotic and far too easy to play through. It was like the previous home game, against Leeds, except that Leicester created even more chances (nine in the first 21 minutes) and somehow converted none of them. David de Gea was immaculate, but Fred was having one of those days when he’s all over the place and there was no Casemiro to bail him out. When he went off, Scott McTominay made a far better flatmate for Marcel Sabitzer – calm, tidy, quietly clearing up the mess.
Wout Weghorst, willing as he is, just seems too slow for this slick attacking machine. Alejandro Garnacho is a stuttering starter who only sizzles as a sub. His half-time replacement, Jadon Sancho, was patchy – good in tight areas, mixed in front of goal, poor when there was a decision to be made. While he gets great stats for completed passes, that’s partly because he is apt to pass the buck along with the ball. He’s still off the pace, but since returning from his lay-off he’s been better than we had any right to expect. And even after playing only 245 minutes in four months, he is the second most likely United player to score.
Tim de Lisle writes about sport for The Guardian and music for The Mail on Sunday. If you’re still on Twitter, do follow him and United Writing.