Man United v Leicester City. Should United have won?
By: Samuel Tutu
Tags: Leicester City, Soccer Analytics, Analysis, Manchester United, Soccer

Man United v Leicester City

Image is taken from @433 on Twitter. https://twitter.com/433?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

The boxing day match between the Red Devils of Manchester United and the Foxes of Leicester City in the English Premier League ended in a 2–2 draw. Coming into the game, United was on a 3 game unbeaten run in the league and 3rd position with a game in hand. Leicester City came into the game 1 point ahead of United with an extra game played. United went ahead thanks to a composed finish by Rashford in the 23rd minute after a somewhat lucky touch and pass by Fernandes. The Foxes replied after 8 min with Harvey Barnes scoring from outside the box with a shot past De Gea in the 31 min. After both teams scored in the first half, the game stalled as both teams created limited chances until the half was over. Leicester came out the second half with the better intensity but United held strong. After the introduction of Pogba and Cavani, the team had more a slight control of the game. A nice passage of play led to Fernandes scoring after a Cavani through ball assist. It seemed like United would go on to win the game with the one-goal lead. Nonetheless, the Foxes battled back despite being down a goal by scoring a goal of their own through none other than Vardy. His shot from inside the box deflected off replacement right back Tuanzebe. The game ended with a 2–2 draw and both teams retain their 2nd and 3rd place position in the league before other fixtures are played.

Missed Chances

Manchester United was clinical in their previous games scoring 3 and 6 against Sheffield United and Leeds United respectively. However, the game saw Rashford two clear cut opportunities in the opening minutes and at the hour mark of the match. You would bet that Rashford put away those two chances but it was not to be in the game. Other goal scoring chances were not taken during the course of the match by United. Both Fernandes and Maguire missed a header after freekicks by Shaw. United had good counter-attacks but last-ditch efforts and good defending by Leicester city forced United to miss these chances. During his post-match reaction on MU TV stated “United created big chances and played some fantastic football”. It was a lack of clinical finishing in the attacking third that ultimately cost United the three points in the match.

Thoughts on the Match

Defense

The match was tight as both defenses stifled the attacking threats of both teams. Vardy rarely had a chance to score until the 85th minute, and United could not get Martial into the game. The back four of United nullified Vardy and Maddison. Every time Albrighton got onto the ball, Luke Shaw was tight to him, preventing him from putting in a cross. Lindelof played well against Harvey Barnes until he was substituted due to injury. Eric Bailly played well for the second game in a row and Maguire was solid throughout. The hard work of the defense was undone by excellent movement in the box by Vardy. He finished on Perez’s cross making the game was 2–2. I understand many people would say the defending was abysmal but actually, the United defense was solid for the majority of the game. The first goal Leicester scored was a lack of closing down. It comes down to McTominay who was the closest to the ball and Bailly not stepping in the path of the shot quicker. I am not going to deflect the Harvey Barnes’ strike because it was a superb strike but United should have done better.

Midfield

Fernandes was excellent again for United, providing an assist and a goal. He seems to the catalyst for 90% of United’s attacking threats. He is a risk-taker which is why Solskjaer deploys Fred and McTominay behind him for defensive cover. The midfield duo of Fred and McTominay did not work well in the attacking sense. McTominay couldn’t get on the ball often in the middle of the park. Fred had to shift from the middle to either side of the center backs to pick up the ball. Defensively, they marshaled Maddison, Ndidi, and Tielemans well. Fred was everywhere during the game. McTominay’s position was sometimes questionable. The majority of their passes were either back to the center backs or full-backs. They did not play balls between the lines to Fernandes or Martial. Both United midfielders are defensive-minded and covered the back four adequately. They did their jobs as the engine of the midfield but they should be contributing more to the offensive phases of the game. McTominay did not close down Barnes well enough. Thus allowing Barnes to score from outside the box in the first half. One lapse of concentration and the other team will punish you by scoring. Solskjaer said it in his post-match interview. With the quality on display on both sides of the match, players cannot turn off for a moment.

Forwards / Attacking

United fans were not pleased with Rashford finishing quality in front of goal today. He missed a headed chance 2 minutes into the game and a 1 v 1 chance in the 60th minute. Contrary to what other fans say, Rashford had a decent game despite missing two big chances. He was still the Rashford of old. Direct when attacking, trying to link up with Shaw on the left and create for others. He scored Man United's first goal but honestly should have scored a hattrick today. Should he have been taken off, probably? He looked likely to score for United besides Bruno. I rarely saw Martial get onto the ball or find spaces in between the Leicester defense and midfield. Martial scored but it was ruled offside. This was not Martial’s best game because he could not get the ball, turn, and take on the defense as he usually does. James was poor in this game. He did not utilize his speed to get in behind often and most passes he played went backward. He was not a threat going forward. After the introduction of Pogba and Cavani, Man United looked likely to win the game. Pogba looked to get on the ball often on the left and sometimes shifted infield to possess it and move it along. He attempted the passes in between the lines as opposed to Fred and McTominay. Cavani set up Fernandes’s goal with excellent movement, collected the ball from Bailly, drove, and played a through ball into the path of Bruno. Bruno finished it off with a shot in the bottom corner giving United the lead.

Final score. Image is taken from 433 on Instagram

Conclusion

This game was excellent to watch if you did not support either team playing. It was back and forth at times but slow at other moments. United should have taken all three points today because they played well. They had better quality, chances, and effort to go on and win. Tactically both managers got it right. Leicester limited united midfield by being compact and looked to counter. United pressed high at times to win the ball back and look to attack straight away. Some United fans would say why did not Pogba and Cavani start? Both players actually played 90 mins in the last match on Wednesday. Would they have made a difference from the beginning, most likely but at this stage of the season, Solskjaer does not want to risk them getting injured. Both players had injury problems earlier in the season and knows how valuable they will be in the latter stages of the season. In all, this was a pleasing game to watch. United seems to be hitting stride at the right moment. A win would have been a confidence booster but it was not to be. Hopefully, the team can get three points against Wolves on the 29th of December.

I did not get in-depth about the tactics/ substitutions as this article would have been long. If anyone who reads this has suggestions, questions or things I did not see during the game make sure to leave a comment. This is my first article on a United game so I welcome constructive criticism.