Friday 29 April 2016

Man Utd Vs Leicester City

MANCHESTER UNITED 1
LEICESTER CITY 1
Barclays Premier League | Old Trafford | Attendance:
75,275 | Scorers: Martial 8', Morgan 17'

Manchester United and Leicester City played out
an enthralling 1-1 draw that was punctuated with
entertainment, passion and drama, yet the result
was not truly desired by either club.

Anthony Martial and Wes Morgan scored first-half
goals in the stalemate that mirrors November's
meeting at the King Power Stadium, providing a
blow to the Reds’ hopes of finishing in the Barclays
Premier League top four with just three matches
left to play. The Foxes could also have won the
title at Old Trafford had they secured a victory,
although their champagne remains on ice for the
time being.

The magnitude of this fixture given Leicester’s
potential title triumph was reflected inside the
stadium, with dozens of media crews from around
the world in attendance to report on what is
arguably the biggest story in sport.

Former England
manager Fabio Capello was among the onlookers,
working for Italian television, while the director’s
box also accommodated a heavily-bearded club
legend in Eric Cantona. There was even a rock star,
with Kasabian guitarist and Foxes fan Sergio
Pizzorno sitting among the fans for this much-
discussed game.

Louis van Gaal had told his players prior to kick-off
that they “cannot allow” Leicester to win the title
at Old Trafford and the Reds were clearly in no
mood to host a coronation, judging by the bright
start that led to the deadlock being broken on eight
minutes. The goal came from Anthony Martial, who
met Antonio Valencia’s cross to execute a low
near-post finish past Kasper Schmeichel. It was
the 20-year-old’s 15th strike of the season and that
means he is now United’s top scorer this season.

Leicester displayed their famed team sprit by
bouncing back quickly, as captain Wes Morgan lost
his marker Marcos Rojo to head Danny Drinkwater’s
lofted free-kick past David De Gea from close
range on 17 minutes, much to the delight and thrill
of the 3,000 travelling supporters in the away end.

There were further chances for both teams before
half-time, with Jesse Lingard and Marouane Fellaini
both forcing saves from Schmeichel, and Jeffrey
Schlupp hitting a deflected effort wide of goal
following a neat pass from Riyad Mahrez.
The
recently anointed PFA Player of the Year could and
perhaps should have won a penalty, too, when he
was upended by Marcos Rojo on 39 minutes.

STATISTICS AT HALF-TIME
Possession: United 71% Leicester 29%
Shots at goal: United 11 Leicester 5
Shots on target: United 3 Leicester 1
Corners: United 4 Leicester 2

The second half began with the physically-imposing
Morgan beating Rojo in the air once more to head
straight at De Gea, before Martial arched a right-
footed effort over the bar moments later. Ex-Reds
defender Danny Simpson then watched his
deflected cross roll across the six-yard area on 51
minutes, with his Japanese team-team Shinji
Okazaki unable to divert it into the net.

A flurry of yellow cards were then distributed to
Lingard, Michael Carrick and the industrious Danny
Drinkwater, another former United man, as the
match became a scrappy affair with both sides
jostling for dominance. A spark of creativity was
required and, perhaps with that in mind, van Gaal
sent substitute Juan Mata onto the field on 61
minutes to register his 100th Reds appearance.

United pushed forward and Fellaini soon saw a
header bounce wide of goal from Blind’s corner,
before the undeniably gifted Mahrez stung the
palms of De Gea with a rasping effort from 20
yards. With 78 minutes on the clock and the match
approaching its final act, Chris Smalling then rose
to meet Wayne Rooney’s cross from midfield to
head onto the outside of Schmeichel’s left-hand
post.

Drinkwater was sent off for a second bookable
offence on 87 minutes, after dragging back
substitute Memphis on the edge of the penalty
area, and Schmeichel was forced to make a fine
save to deny Rooney from the resulting free-kick.
Seconds later, the son of Peter Schmeichel
frustrated the United captain again by catching his
curling strike from around 25 yards, wrapping up a
lively encounter at Old Trafford.

STATISTICS AT FULL-TIME
Possession: United 70% Leicester 30%
Shots at goal: United 21 Leicester 14
Shots on target: United 6 Leicester 3
Corners: United 6 Leicester 5

THE TEAMS
United: De Gea, Valencia, Smalling, Blind, Rojo,
Carrick, Fellaini (Herrera 75'), Lingard (Mata 61'),
Rooney, Martial, Rashford (Memphis 82').
Subs not used: Romero, Fosu-Mensah, Darmian,
Schneiderlin.
Booked: Lingard, Carrick, Rooney

Leicester: Schmeichel, Simpson, Huth, Morgan,
Fuchs, Mahrez (King 88'), Kanté, Drinkwater,
Schlupp (Albrighton 77'), Okazaki (Gray 67'), Ulloa.
Subs not used: Amartey, Wasilewski, Chilwell,
Schwarzer.
Sent off: Drinkwater.

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