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Leicester City player ratings v Man United as Winks leads but Kristiansen struggles in big loss
Leicester City missed a chance to pull clear of the relegation zone as they fell to their heaviest Premier League defeat of the season at Manchester United.
Saturday’s results had given City an opportunity to move six points above the drop zone, but, while not outclassed by United, they were the worse of two poor teams. A drab defeat with little goalmouth threat won’t appease City fans who have their doubts over manager Steve Cooper.
City didn’t concede the glut of chances they usually do, but minor defensive mistakes allowed Bruno Fernandes to open the scoring and then force Victor Kristiansen to turn into his net. As City chased an unlikely comeback, a stunning effort from Alejandro Garnacho late sealed the win for parting United interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy.
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For the first time this season, there was no Jamie Vardy in the line-up, the skipper ruled out through a back injury, while Ricardo Pereira was also sidelined too. James Justin and Jordan Ayew replaced the duo, with Boubakary Soumare earning himself a first Premier League start of the campaign in place of Stephy Mavididi.
The first quarter of an hour was fairly even, perhaps giving City hope that just a second win in 26 years at Old Trafford was possible. But then, with their first chance, United struck.
Kristiansen gave up a throw-in after failing to deal with a long ball and City weren’t alert to the danger, United taking it quickly, with Amad Diallo back-heeling to Fernandes, who curled into the bottom corner from 18 yards. It was the ninth time in 11 games that City have conceded the first goal.
They did not lose their composure though and had a strong spell, creating a few shots from distance and one big chance for Wilfred Ndidi. Facundo Buonanotte clipped a delightful ball over the top for the Nigerian, who stretched to bring the ball down superbly but could not get any purchase on the finish, Andre Onana saving.
Against the run of play, United then got their second. James Justin, solid to that point, did not close down Noussair Mazraoui quickly enough, allowing the full-back to cross. He found Fernandes, the ball flicking off his thigh before Kristiansen diverted it into his own net.
If that was unfortunate for the young Dane, his next big moment was poor play as an aimless pass set up Amad in added time. The young winger surged past a few challenges but his shot was kept out by Mads Hermansen’s legs.
The second half, frustratingly for City, was a non-event. They played more decent football to get them to the edge of the United box, but without Vardy in there, they didn’t have that penalty-area threat to test the hosts.
“Cooper, sort it out!” came the chants from the away end, and Bilal El Khannouss was introduced shortly afterwards. But bar a shot into the side-netting from Ayew, City didn’t come close to getting one back, their run of scoring in every Premier League match this season coming to an end.
They kept pushing, but in doing so left themselves open at the back and allowed United to get a third. The hosts were not at all a threat themselves in the second period, but after space opened up for Garnacho to shoot from 20 yards, he curled a stunning shot into the top corner to kill City off for good. Here's how we scored the players.
Mads Hermansen: Little could be done about the United goals, but he made an important save with his legs just before the break. With his feet, he misplaced a short pass early on and then went long too often, ceding possession to United. 5
James Justin: United had no joy from him until their second goal, with the full-back doing well to shut down the hosts’ threats on that side, Rashford totally anonymous. But he didn’t get out quickly enough to Mazraoui to stop the cross for Kristiansen’s own goal. 6
Wout Faes: He positioned himself well to clear crosses on plenty of occasions in the first half, but let Amad breeze past him late on. He hoofed the ball up the pitch too often as well. 5
Jannik Vestergaard: He seemed to have been tasked with marking Hojlund out of the game, which he did effectively, but that did mean he wasn’t where City needed him to be on a couple of crosses. He didn’t provide many of his trademark probing passes either. 5
Victor Kristiansen: An afternoon to forget. He struggled to cope with Amad from the first whistle, and then failed to deal with a high ball, conceding a throw-in from which United scored their first. He was a tad unfortunate with the own goal, but then gifted Amad a big chance with an ill-thought, aimless ball. 3
Harry Winks: Captain for the afternoon and City’s best player. He was always surveying the situation and played plenty of forward balls to get City onto the attack, from which they rarely profited. Wasn’t afraid to vent his fury at team-mates either. 7
Boubakary Soumare: He was tidy and got stuck in, but he wasn’t the swashbuckling midfielder that had earned him this first Premier League start. He was perhaps guiltiest of not being alert for the United opener too. 5
Facundo Buonanotte: There were a few nice surges through United challenges, and some that deserved better. He played a lovely pass over the top to set up Ndidi’s chance too. But his influence waned as he became more frustrated, while he earned himself a suspension with his fifth booking of the season too. 6
Wilfred Ndidi: He had City’s one big chance but couldn’t take it. It was a great run and superb touch, but he couldn’t connect properly with the finish. He was okay after that, but not involved enough. 5
Abdul Fatawu: He looked uncomfortable on the left at first, as if not sure how best to attack. But once he accustomed himself to that flank, he beat Dalot regularly to get City into good areas. His final ball wasn’t there though, and he made a few silly decisions in the middle of the pitch, not least trying to score from his own half for the third time this season. 5
Jordan Ayew: The referee wasn’t buying his falls to the floor and so he started staying on his feet, which helped. He came back to connect play well and was pretty lively all told, but he just didn’t offer a threat in the penalty box. 5
Bilal El Khannouss: Didn't have any impact on City's attack and gave a couple of cheap passes away too. Still, he might start next time after Buonanotte's suspension. 4
Kasey McAteer: Not on the pitch long enough to make a difference. N/A
Odsonne Edouard: On briefly for a rare outing, but may struggle to keep his spot on the bench when Daka is back. N/A
