Manchester United earned a comfortable win at a poor Leicester City, but were left concerned about an injury to Ayden Heaven. Bruno Fernandes continued his rich vein of form, creating two and then scoring the third in a routine victory.
It has been a flat weekend of Premier League action; Arsenal won against Chelsea in a game devoid of any sense of spectacle, a sad reflection on meetings of the past, and the poor state of the quality in the league this season.
And with Wolves winning at Southampton yesterday, all three relegation places seem as nailed on as the title race. Coming into this game, Leicester had lost their last six home league games, all without scoring a goal, and all by two goals or more.
United have been in relatively settled form – relative to the expectation of this squad in this system – so could hardly have asked for a more welcoming proposition to pick up more points. However it is usually in such moments that Amorim’s men have been at their most unpredictable.
The early exchanges saw both teams create speculative openings – Rasmus Hojlund shot wide, before Jamie Vardy tested Onana’s fitness after the Cameroon international was rumoured to be close to missing the game through illness.
The first half played out exactly how most would have predicted – Christian Eriksen hit the post after 23 minutes, but five minutes later, his team had the lead. The 3-4-3 system favoured by the manager occasionally shows promise, albeit usually against poorer teams. Leicester are one such team – but the outnumbering in the right hand side area was executed smoothly and Bruno Fernandes hit a ball into the path of Rasmus Hojlund. Hojlund had not scored for 22 games but would have been hoping to start today thanks to the benevolent Foxes defence – however, he still had to do some work to fashion a chance, and did well to finish with some lethal effect with his right foot to give his side the lead.
United then were too passive for the remainder of the half, giving Leicester a feel of a way back into the game – one drawback with the zonal defensive system is that simple attacking moves are often reacted to too late, and Leicester got a simple cross in only for Ugarte to dash in and nick the ball off Ndidi’s toes when the midfielder thought he had a gilt-edged chance to equalise.
And the impressive Heaven – who had earlier shown great awareness in a recovery tackle against Daka – then pulled off a brave block to keep it at 1-0 at half-time. But true to United’s story of the season, straight after the break, Heaven went down under a Daka challenge after Vardy flashed a cross in front of goal; the former Arsenal defender had to be stretchered off, with immediate concern that he would miss the rest of the season, when he had done so well in his recent introduction into the first team.
With no defender on the pitch, Toby Collyer came on, with Mazraoui moving into the backline, and Collyer filling in at right wing-back.
United needed to get a second goal to take any sting out of it for Leicester – they thought they’d got it through a Garnacho strike in the 57th minute, but that was ruled out for offside; however, ten minutes later, the same player did get on the scoresheet, catching the goalkeeper out at the near post, after yet another Bruno Fernandes assist.
There was another injury scare when De Ligt, who’d moved to the left after Heaven went off, was trod on by Ndidi after making two fine blocks, but the Dutchman limped on. Amorim had hoped to bring on Mason Mount, but used his last substitute to bring on Obi for Hojlund with five minutes left.
In the final moments, Dalot’s straightforward stepover was comically missed by his marker, and the Portugeuse defender found his compatriot Fernandes, who scored in style from the edge of the box.
There was still time for an impressive save by Onana from a Vardy shot to preserve the clean sheet – and while any win is welcome, little could be learned from a victory against a side as poor as this.
Ratings
Onana 7
De Ligt 7
Lindelof 6
Heaven 8
Mazraoui 7
Ugarte 6
Fernandes 8
Dalot 6
Garnacho 7
Eriksen 6
Hojlund 7
Subs
Collyer 7
Amass
Casemiro
Zirzkee
Obi
Highlights
Hojlund Goal
Rasmus Hojlund has his first goal of 2025.
The Manchester United striker’s 21-game goal drought is over.
@SkySportsPL pic.twitter.com/1gqUIPp9El
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) March 16, 2025
Garnacho goal
Alejandro Garnacho back on the scoresheet for Manchester United! pic.twitter.com/qd8xmW3Kii
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 16, 2025
Fernandes goal
GOAL | Leicester 0-3 Manchester United | Bruno Fernandes
BRUNO FERNANDES MAKES IT THREE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!pic.twitter.com/Rq8u09LxFT
— Tekkers Foot (@tekkersfoot) March 16, 2025