Manchester United 2-1 Leicester City: 5 Talking Points from the game

Manchester United welcomed Leicester City at Old Trafford to mark the start of the 2018/19 season of the Premier League. United started in a 4-3-3 formation, but the surprise inclusion in the team was Paul Pogba, who did not just return but captained the team in the first game of the season. It was a contrast to all the news that was coming in the preseason and during the transfer window, where there were reports of dissent, differences with the manager, the handing in of a transfer request and even reports of him already accepting a deal with Barcelona.

So for the World Cup winner to come in from the start, without playing a minute in the preseason, because the team needs him, said a lot about Pogba and it showed him in an image that would please United fans.

Manchester United XI: De Gea; Darmian, Bailly, Lindelof, Shaw; Fred, Pereira, Pogba; Mata, Rashford, Sanchez.

Manchester United Starting XI vs Leicester City

The preseason was poor, the transfer window performance was even poorer, but this one game could change everything. United were also facing Maguire and it was to be seen whether the failed transfer attempt would come back to haunt them. Interestingly for United, Martial started from the bench, as did Lukaku.

Leicester City started in the 4-2-3-1 formation that Puel had gone for in preseason and which has worked for them so far. New Signing and United old boy Johny Evans started from the bench, along with Vardy and another new signing R. Ghezzal, signed to replace the phenomenal Mahrez, who had shifted to the other half of Manchester over the summer.

Leicester City XI: Schmeichel; Chilwell, Maguire, Morgan, Amartey; Silva, Ndidi; Gray, Maddison, Pereira; Iheanacho

United started the game strong and were rewarded when Amartey handled the ball in the penalty box to concede a corner, after some fine exchange of passes between Pogba, Shaw and Sanchez. Pogba stepped up and scored the first premier league goal of the 2018/19 season. Leicester did try their best to score but were met with a resolute defence marshalled well by Bailly and Lindelof.

The first half ended 1-0. United kept trying to extend the lead in the second half, and Lukaku, coming on as a substitute for Rashford, should have scored. On the other side of the field, De Gea fabulously stopped Gray from equalizing. But finally, it was Mata who set up Luke Shaw to score United's second of the game. Leicester set up a frantic final 2 minutes when Vardy capitalized on a defensive lapse to deny De Gea a clean sheet. Ultimately, United won a hard fought season opener and we take a look at 5 points to talk about from the game.

#5 Lindelof has brought his World Cup form to United

Manchester United v Leicester City - Premier League — Lindelof was stellar for Manchester United v Leicester City

Lindelof showed from the very start that he would not let the absence of Alderweireld or even Maguire be felt in this United team. He was fast, composed on the ball and regularly joined in the midfield to take the ball forward from defence. He was also very strong, surviving a shoulder to shoulder wrestling competition with Iheanacho in the first half. The Leicester City striker seemed clear on goal, only for Lindelof to just do enough.

He was almost always composed and did not show any signs of indecision or rash moves. It did help to have Bailly, who was fabulous himself, alongside him and those two look to have a partnership blossoming between them.

United registered 25 tackles and 38 clearances in the game and while the team defended as a unit, Lindelof definitely deserves special praise. He read the game very well, making clever decisions and even though United conceded due to a lapse in defence, he was in no way responsible. Lindelof was stellar in defence as United got the better of Leicester and Mourinho might finally have found the perfect partner for Eric Bailly.

#4 Rashford needs to do more

Rashford started as the focal point for the United attack and after initially looking busy, was at fault for being wasteful in attack. In a refreshing change to their preseason efforts, United managed 8 shots, 6 of which were on target. However, none of those 8 were from Rashford.

Quite a few United counter moves fell flat because of his indecision. He also needs to do a lot more with the ball on the feet, because he will not be the first choice for the striker’s position this season and on current form, Mata easily surpasses him on the right. The diminutive Spaniard was quite lively, threading in nice balls, helping Darmian out on a few occasions, switching places and showing unreal control and touches.

Mata even set up the ultimate winner, when he found Shaw at the edge of the box. But Rashford did have his moments, especially when his showed blistering pace to good effect in the counter attacks, but needs to use more than just his pace to be a part of the first team at Manchester United.

#3 United have left the frustrations of the transfer window behind

The transfer window this season has been one to forget for United so far and fans were clearly upset at the end of the transfer deadline day. There was no defensive reinforcement, no new player to fight for the right side of attack and none of the potential targets made it to Old Trafford. Add to that the speculations surrounding Paul Pogba.

But after the start of the game, United, with their free-flowing game, must have made all their fans forget about the frustrations of their Transfer Business. United looked unstoppable in the counter-attack many times in the game and it was only unforced individual errors that let them down.

Everyone had a good game, even Darmian, who was caught off guard by Gray quite often, but recovered well and even had a shot on target to talk about. United had a purpose about them and seemed to have used all the negativity in the press to motivate themselves. And by winning the game against a Leicester City side who fought till the end, Manchester United seems to have quickly move ahead from the frustrations of the summer and that can only be good news.

#2 This might be United’s strongest Midfield combination

United started with Fred, Pogba and Pereira as the 3 Midfielders. And all of them had a strong start to their season. United had 46.2% possession, and had 696 touches on the ball, attempting 482 passes with 82% accuracy. A lot of that was due to the ability of the three in the middle. Fred was full of running but did get caught on the ball a few times. He also picked up a yellow card after his ongoing tussle with Madisson.

But apart from that one blot on his outing, Fred showed a lot of qualities. He closed on his opponents fast and displayed quick feet. He sprayed the balls so well, combining well with Mata out of the defence to initiate counter attacks many times. Alongside him, Pereira had a fabulous first start in the premier league. He combined very well with Fred and Pogba, initiated counter attacks, and wasted very little time on the ball, keeping it moving.

He often dropped between Bailly and Lindelof to pick up the balls and was very responsible in his defensive duties. Matic will have to play out of his socks to keep the young Brazilian out of the team. And then, there was Pogba. Initially, Pogba was everywhere, he was defending he was switching the play, he was pulling off those ridiculous cross-field balls. It was one such brilliant ball to Shaw which ultimately caused Amartey to concede the penalty, which Pogba scored confidently.

His passes were sublime, accurate and his close control seems to have gotten even better over the summer. Pogba did lose his intensity as the first half progressed, but he picked it up in the second half until he was substituted. Pogba should make United fans very happy and should give the rest of the league a cause to worry about. This might very well be Paul Pogba’s season.

#1 Luke Shaw has come of age

Luke Shaw had a fabulous start to the game when he overlapped to receive Pogba’s ball and caused Leicester to conceded the penalty. But that was not the only time he did that. The youngster toiled tirelessly on the left side and had his first shot on target in the first half itself. It was a sign of things to come.

He was defensively solid as well, but it was going forward that his pace and ball control came to the fore. He was strong, stayed close to the touchline to give room to Sanchez and the midfield runners and stayed high for most of the game, forcing Pereira to have little effect for Leicester City. He regularly joined in the attack and looked very comfortable on the ball. And in the end, it was his persistence and perseverance that paid off.

As was the case whenever United went forward, Luke Shaw had presented himself as an option again and this time, Mata found him near the box with a lovely ball. Initially, it seemed that Shaw had miss-controlled the ball, yet the youngster had the desire and the intent to make up for his mistake, finding the ball with quick feet before anyone in the Leicester City could gain an advantage.

And once he was in the vicinity of the ball, he hit a perfect volley to send the ball past Schmeichel into the Leicester net. It was a deserved goal for a player who had not put a put wrong in the whole game and it was a finish even the best of strikers would be proud of. Luke Shaw has finally come of age and if he can keep up the consistency, he will be the deserved first choice for his position this season.