Leicester City 1 - 4 Manchester United: Player Ratings
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 24: Claudio Ranieri, Manager of Leicester City shows his frustration as Jose Mourinho, Manager of Manchester United looks on during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Leicester City at Old Trafford on September 24, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Today’s lunchtime fixture saw Leicester City get humiliated away from home by Manchester United at Old Trafford as they lost 4 – 1 away from home.
A shocking performance in today’s lunchtime Premier League match has seen Leicester City humbled by Jose Mourinho’s United side.
A poor performance all round, with only a few bright patches, Leicester failed to continue their league form following their 3 – 0 home win over Burnley.
The loss saw the worlds most expensive player Paul Pogba score his first goal since returning to Manchester United as well as Rashford, Mata and Chris Smalling all getting on the scoresheet.
The loss means that Leicester City have now only taken 7 points from 6 games, with wins over Swansea and Burnley and a goalless stalemate with Arsenal.
Losses to Liverpool, Hull and and now United means that Leicester are in a hole, a hole they must dig themselves out of.
With that being said, let’s take a look at how the players faired.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 24: Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Manchester United (L) and Robert Huth of Leicester City (R) battle for possession during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Leicester City at Old Trafford on September 24, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Defenders
Zieler: 6/10
It’s hard to pin the loss onto the Leicester City goalkeeper.
Coming into the first team as Schmeichel has suffered a midweek injury in training, Zieler had an average game.
Perhaps he could have collected the balls from the corners, perhaps that wasn’t part of Ranieri’s game plan.
His shot stopping was average at best, conceding only 1 goal from open play as Juan Mata struck a beautiful shot.
Danny Simpson: 6/10
Danny Simpson was afforded the tough task of keeping Marcus Rashford quiet.
Lucky to not get into the referee’s book until late into the first half, Simpson again, had an average game.
His defensive capabilities were tested as the majority of United’s possession was on their left hand side through Rashford and he saw them out well.
However in possession Simpson was sloppy and often gave the ball away.
Morgan: 5/10
The Leicester City captain did everything but lead by example today.
His organisation of the defence was all over the place at times, especially at pieces.
Many expected Morgan to have a good game today due to the physical battle with United’s striker Ibrahimovic however that didn’t turn out to be the case.
Huth: 5/10
Partly at fault for 2 of the goals, Huth had a shocker.
One thing you expect Leicester City to do well is defend corners. Today it’s what they were worst at.
Chris Smalling found himself with a free header as Huth failed to jump to meet the ball, from there it was all United.
Had Huth met the ball, the game could have been completely different as the goal was against the run of play.
Fuchs: 6/10
In possession Fuchs was average at best, his link-up play in the second half with Demarai Gray was great however in the first half his passing back and forth with Marc Albrighton was sloppy and misguided.
He had the job of defending against Juan Mata and Valencia, a tricky pair to come up against. He held his own well however, blocking most of the attempted crosses.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 24: Danny Drinkwater of Leicester City in action with Paul Pogba of Manchester United during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Leicester City at Old Trafford on September 24th, 2016 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)
Midfielders
Mahrez: 4/10
The PFA ‘Player of The Year’ showed none of the form that he was in last season.
The tricky winger failed to take on any defenders with real conviction and was never truly in the first half.
Ranieri summed up his afternoon after substituting him at half time.
Whether this was to rest him for the Porto clash on Wednesday or his poor performance is up for debate, I’ll go with the latter.
Drinkwater: 8/10
Danny Drinkwater showed today why he’s so vital to the foxes.
His leadership in midfield carried them through the second half and his first half performance was valiant.
He was given an impossible job as he was essentially a one man midfield due to Amartey’s shocking performance.
His connection from defence to attack was vital to relieving pressure on the back-line of Leicester City.
Drinkwater for me, was Leicester City’s man of the match and so far this season, is their player of the season.
Amartey: 4/10
The performance he showed against Swansea in Leicester’s 2 – 1 win seems like a distant memory.
All over the place in midfield, Amartey was meant to be protecting the back 4 of Leicester City, instead, he shot them in the foot.
At blame for Rashford’s goal, he needs to take a look at himself in the mirror and improve.
Luckily he’s young and will hopefully learn from his mistakes today.
Myself and many other fans have faith as he has shown glimpses of what he’s capable of.
Albrighton: 6/10
Albrighton had a mixed game.
His passing at times was sloppy however his crossing as always was on point.
The one time it mattered however he put the ball right into De Gea’s gloves instead of onto Slimani’s head.
I think Albrighton needs to go off and train a little on his left foot.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 24: Islam Slimani of Leicester City stretches to reach the ball during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Leicester City at Old Trafford on September 24, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Strikers
Vardy: 5/10
Due to poor service, Vardy had an anonymous game.
Coming off at half time, he hadn’t made the mark he would have looked for.
As his role has changed this season, it’s clear to see that Vardy is still looking to get to grips with playing alongside Slimani.
Usually his pressuring of defences is backed up with Okazaki however alongside Slimani it’s a one man job.
With very little exposure in-front of goal, it’s no wonder he was getting frustrated.
He’ll hope his fortune turns against Porto on Wednesday.
Slimani: 6/10
Club record signing Islam Slimani’s link-up play with the midfield was great.
The towering figure held off pressure from Manchester United allowing the midfield and wingers to push up.
One criticism however is how slow he releases the ball when Vardy is in-behind the defence.
As Slimani is new to the side, it’ll take time for the Algerian to instinctively look for Vardy.
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