Leicester 0-3 Man Utd: Match report & 4 talking points as Fernandes puts Foxes to the sword

Manchester United moved up to 13th in the Premier League table following Sunday night's comfortable 3-0 win over Championship-bound Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.

Rasmus Hojlund's first goal in any competition in three months was followed up Alejandro Garnacho ending his own drought that began even earlier, before Bruno Fernandes capped an excellent all-round performance with a well-taken United third.

How the game unfolded

Even with their prior domestic struggles this season, United were still expected to turn up at the King Power Stadium and dominate an opponent staring relegation in the face.

An early save from Andre Onana to deny veteran Foxes skipper Jamie Vardy aside, that was what happened. It took a little while for Ruben Amorim's side to start creating meaningful chances, with Garnacho the first in red to go close when he struck at Mads Hermansen from 20 yards.

There was a dangerous ball into the Leicester box from Noussair Mazraoui that was dealt with, before Christian Eriksen wound up striking the crossbar with a stunning effort from the resultant corner. The opening goal from Hojlund wasn't far behind.

The alert Dane was playing on the shoulder of the high defensive line, played into space in the right channel by Fernandes. Hojlund took it in his stride, afforded the space by Leicester to do so, and then fired a clinical effort into the far bottom corner, beyond Hermansen's reach.

Leicester did improve towards the end of the first half, but an attempt from Wilfred Ndidi deflected over, and blocked efforts from Patson Daka and Bilal El Khanouss were the closest they went.

The hosts maintained some of that pressure early in the second half, with a chance for Daka resulting in a collision that saw United defender Ayden Heaven leave the field on a stretcher. But the next significant chance came as Garnacho put the ball in the net, only to be flagged offside – a VAR check confirmed the decision to disallow the goal, but it was marginal at most.

Garnacho had the ball in the net again not long after and that one did count. Fernandes initially tried to play Mazraoui in, but got a second bite of the cherry to knock it into the path of Garnacho, who obliged by sweeping his finish low past Hermansen. The celebration from the earlier strike was repeated, perching himself on the advertising hoardings.

A huge chance for Leicester came as the clock ticked into the final 15 minutes, Vardy outfoxing Victor Lindelof on the left and squaring for substitute Facuno Buonanotte. But, with the goal at the Argentine's mercy, Matthijs de Ligt threw himself in front of the ball with a huge block.

Fernandes put the icing on the cake for United in the closing moments. The goal was a product of Amorim's system, with Diogo Dalot in place to take a diagonal pass high on the right flank. He beat a somewhat hapless Stephy Mavididi with a couple of stepovers and fired a cutback to his captain on the edge of the box for a first-time finish.

Leicester pushed for a consolation right to the end to avoid becoming the first team in English top flight history to lose seven successive home games without scoring. But Onana was equal to a powerful Vardy effort in stoppage time and the Foxes are indeed tagged with that unwanted record.

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Hojlund ends goal drought

There was no outpouring of emotion, but a knowing look of quiet relief from Rasmus Hojlund after he buried the ball in the bottom corner of the net to score his first goal since 12 December.

The has come under enormous scrutiny in his second season with United, even namedropped by Sir Jim Ratcliffe last week when the co-owner was publicly discussing underperforming players.

Hojlund gave the perfect response to those comments in midweek when United demolished Real Sociedad at Old Trafford, doing everything but score in that one. Here, the 22-year-old got the break that he has been waiting for, perhaps benefitting from some not brilliant Leicester defending. But Hojlund has shown in the past that he is someone who thrives on confidence and momentum, as evidenced by a six-game scoring streak in the middle of last season that was only curtailed by injury.

If this was the goal that he needs to embark on another run like that, United will reap the rewards.

Bruno Fernandes…the 'problem'

With United struggling this season, the increasingly popular soundbite for critics has been to label Bruno Fernandes the 'problem'. That could hardly be further from the truth, with the captain perhaps the only player who has continued to consistently perform throughout.

Fernandes picked up assists for the Hojlund and Garnacho strikes here, before adding the third himself. To put his recent contributions into context, the Portuguese has had a direct hand in 16 goals across all competitions since the turn of the calendar year alone.

Worrying scenes for Heaven

After an impressive recent substitute appearances and a full United debut in the Europa League on Thursday, 18-year-old defender Ayden Heaven was rewarded with his first Premier League start.

Again, the youngster did well, notably blocking from Patson Daka in the closing stages of the first half. But Heaven was left stricken on the turf following a collision with the same Leicester forward soon after half-time and was given lengthy treatment on the pitch before being stretchered off.

Ruben Amorim told Sky Sports following the final whistle that it was too soon to know exactly what the damage is, with assessments to be carried out in the coming days.

Man Utd showing some fight

There was moment towards the end of the first half when Wilfred Ndidi threatened to run unmarked into the box, where he would have met a Leicester cross into the box for a straightforward equaliser. Manuel Ugarte was the United player closest to Ndidi when he started advancing, spotting the movement and sprinting to make up the gap and get to the ball before the Leicester player did.

It was only a singular passage of play, but it felt representative of a something bigger in how the team are now approaching things after being guilty of too many passive performances this season.

By contrast, when Garnacho scored United's killer second goal, the lack of defensive intensity from Leicester was stark in its absence.

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