Home   >   MOTDs   >   MOTD: Manchester United 1-1- Leicester City

MOTD: Manchester United 1-1- Leicester City

By on May 1, 2016

“We shall not be moved,” sang the Leicester City faithful — and for long after the final whistle, they indeed weren’t as they joyously saluted their side’s determined draw against Manchester United.

Leicester maintained their momentum at Old Trafford and although Anthony Martial’s early goal managed to extend the title race potentially for another week, Leicester rallied and pulled themselves within two points of the title.  It will be theirs if Tottenham Hotspur fail to win at Chelsea today and regardless, they remain in prime position to capture the title with at the King Power Stadium against Everton next weekend.

Ranieri, though, wasn’t quite sure how to respond to the result and Leicester’s disappointment at their missed opportunity to clinch the title once and for all awkwardly mingled with their breathless sense of pride.  The away section partied anyway, unfurling their entire repertoire of chants and songs.

Even the United home support gave the champions-in-waiting a standing ovation and the suspended Jamie Vardy, who watch from the stands, came down to the pitch for a brief cameo and chat with England manager Roy Hodgson.

Although the Englishman’s absence was compensated for in Leicester’s 4-0 win over Swansea City last weekend, there were long stretches in the second half tonight when Leicester needed an incisive burst of pace going forward to carve open United’s back-line.

Ranieri kept his starting lineup from Swansea, starting Leonardo Ulloa up top and Jeffrey Schlupp ahead of Marc Albrighton out wide.

United, though, in desperate need of a win, pinned Leicester back early on and put the Foxes in unfamiliar territory when Anthony Martial converted Antonio Valencia’s cross at the far post, the first goal Leicester have allowed inside ten minutes in the Premier League this season.

Although Martial’s danger on the ball had been played up ahead of the match, United overloaded Leicester’s back-line down the other side with Valencia galloping forward on the overlap.

The home side came close to doubling their lead from Jesse Lingard’s low effort, but Kasper Schmeichel, making his first professional appearance at the venue where his father commanded the goal, got down low to his left to make a brilliant stop to keep Ranieri’s men alive.

United had bombarded Schmeichel’s goal early on with a verve rarely seen under Louis Van Gaal and many might have crumbled under the pressure.  Not the Foxes, though, and Wes Morgan punctured United’s bright start with an equalizer on seventeen minutes.  The centerback, built like a nightclub bouncer, outmuscled Marcos Rojo at the far post to stick in a head and convert Christian Fuch’s corner.

Leicester grew into the game from there, but sorely missed Vardy’s pace up front and Ranieri clearly angled for the draw after Danny Drinkwater’s second-half red card.  In a moment of folly, the midfielder dragged back second-half United substitute Memphis Depay on the edge of the penalty area and referee Michael Olivier had no hesitation whipping out the Englishman’s second yellow card.

Louis van Gaal’s post-match comments highlighted Marouane Fellaini’s elbow on Robert Huth, an incident missed by the referees, in an infamous light, yet it was but a passing moment in an intense, tight battle.

Leicester stood firmly under United’s pressure and Van Gaal was left frustrated by a relatively unproductive draw.  The Red Devils needed the three points to give them a fighting chance in their scrape for a spot in the Champions League and now need Manchester City or Arsenal to slip up to stand any chance.

Meanwhile, it seems only a matter of time before Leicester are crowned the most unlikely Champions of England.

Homepage photo credit: Matt Janzer, via Flickr

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.