Rasmus Hojlund sends message to Ruben Amorim as Man Utd’s quiet revival continues

LEICESTER CITY 0-3 MANCHESTER UNITED: The Red Devils have faced the Foxes four times this season – twice in the Premier League, the FA Cup and EFL Cup – and been victorious on every occasion

How Manchester United must wish they could play Leicester every week.

United have faced the Foxes four times this season – twice in the Premier League, the FA Cup and EFL Cup – and been victorious on every occasion. Yet not every opponent is as obliging as Leicester, who were the perfect cannon fodder for United as they continued their quiet revival under Ruben Amorim.

Rasmus Hojlund ended his 21-game goal drought, with further strikes from Alejandro Garnacho – his first in 25 matches -and captain Bruno Fernandes – with his obligatory man-of-the-match display – sealing the win. Hojlund had gone 22 hours and 19 minutes without a goal, but showed supreme composure in producing a clinical first-half finish, which set the tone for a comfortable United win.

The Denmark striker performed his throat-cutting Gladiator goal celebration, taken from the film, and vindicated manager Ruben Amorim’s enduring faith in him, despite his barren run. Victory stretched United’s unbeaten run to seven games in all competitions, and while this has been one of their worst seasons in recent memory, there are signs Amorim finally has them heading in the right direction after a tough start.

For Leicester, this was a seventh successive league defeat, one which leaves them nine points from safety with nine games left to play and facing an immediate return to the Championship. United midfielder Manuel Ugarte flashed two shots over in quick succession, but there was little to quicken the pulse in the opening exchanges.

That changed in the 23rd minute, when Christian Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes exchanged passes from a corner, the former executing a sublime, curling, angled shot from the edge of the area that had Mads Hermansen beaten, but cannoned back off a post.

Hojlund made the breakthrough with a clinical finish in the 23rd minute, latching on to a pass over the top from Fernandes and beating Hermansen with a low shot into the far corner with his weaker right foot.

Leicester threatened briefly when Victor Kristiansen slung in a cross for Wilfried Ndidi at the far post, Ugarte making a decisive intervention to turn the ball behind for a corner.

Young United defender Ayden Heaven made a series of vital clearances and challenges in the first-half, none more so than a double block just before the break, the 18-year-old summer recruit from Arsenal underlining his huge potential on only his second start.

But Heaven’s night ended just a few minutes after the restart, when he was forced off after falling awkwardly defending a cross from Vardy. It was a cruel end for Heaven, who left the pitch on a stretcher, after such a commanding first-half display.

United had the ball in the net in the 57th minute through Garnacho, but it was ruled out for offside, following a VAR review. Yet Garnacho did eventually get his long overdue goal 10 minutes later, beating Hermansen at his near post.

Fernandes, who provided both assists, got his fifth goal of the week and 16th of the season in the 90th minute, to send United into international break on a high, an all too rare feeling for them in this most turbulent of campaigns.

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