In the 30th round of the Premier League, Manchester United took on Leicester City at Old Trafford, Isinacho broke the deadlock for the visiting team, and the Red Devils equalized by Fred, and the two teams eventually drew 1-1. United are still unable to overtake Tottenham Hotspur in one more game, remaining in sixth place in the league, and are likely to be extended by Arsenal to extend their lead, with little hope of competing for fourth place and possibly even being overtaken by West Ham on Sunday.
United lined up a new 4222 starting formation: De Gea was on goal, Diogu Dalo, Varane, Maguire and Luke Shaw formed the defence, McTomine and Fred were in midfield, Anthony Erlanga and Sancho were on either side, and Bruno Fernandes and Pogba were at the top.
Ronnick disclosed that Cristiano Ronaldo missed the game due to physical discomfort. "Unfortunately, before yesterday's training, he had flu-like symptoms and ended up feeling unwell and couldn't participate in the exercises." The Manchester United manager said, "Our team doctor came to his house this morning to see if he had improved, but unfortunately that was not the case, so he could not play."
Leicester City took the lead in completing the shot, with James Madison's free-kick from the left and Harvey Barnes' header slightly over the top. The away team played more smoothly on offense, and Barnes then completed two consecutive long-range shots on goal. United threatened with set-pieces but unfortunately failed to get up and hit the goal. It wasn't until the 21st minute that Pogba received a cross from the left and headed the ball over the top, too angled to threaten Schmeichel Jr.
United created a great opportunity by pressing forward, Fred broke the ball straight in, Fernandez in front of the box undefended low shot, or was blocked by goalkeeper Schmeichel with his feet. Isinacho quickly counter-attacked back in color, but fortunately his left-footed shot from inside the arc of the penalty area was deflected.
United's no-front line was not ideal, Pogba and Fernandez lacked tacit understanding, and the camera was constantly focused on Rashford on the bench. Leicester City's coordination was more fluid, with Barnes slightly off the spot in front of goal. Neither side was successful at halftime and returned to the dressing room 0-0.
Luke Shaw, who injured his right foot before the end of the first half, retired from the line of fire, Tres came off the bench and Marcus Rashford warmed up on the sidelines. McTomine flew off with the ball and shoveled the opponent, but thankfully the referee only showed a yellow card. Dalo passed by a cross from the right, but B Fei's header failed to be straightened out.
Marcus Rashford wore on the line to replace Wheat, United changed the formation, and both Fernandez and Pogba retreated. In the 63rd minute, Manchester United lost the goal, Fred counterattacked unsuccessfully, Hall stole and then instigated the attack, Madison crossed from the left, Isinacho nodded the ball to the top, De Gea pounced on the ball and still could not prevent the ball from entering the net, Manchester United 0-1 Leicester City.
Fortunately, United quickly equalized in less than 5 minutes, Leicester City made a mistake in the back pass, Fernandez's low shot was blocked by Schmeichel, but Fred followed up in time to score in, Manchester United 1-1 Leicester City. It was Fred's fourth goal of the season, a change from his previous goal-scoring stats.
Leicester City then created a succession of threats, and De Gea completed the divine save to save Manchester United, flying out of Fofana's flick of the head.
Seeing this, Lonnick immediately replaced Pogba with Nemanja Matic, choosing to stabilize the midfield. But United's defence was still problematic, with Isinacho wrestling with Varane and Maguire in front of the penalty area and splitting the ball to the right, with Madison scoring from a tight angle in the near corner. Fortunately, VAR prompted the referee to watch the slow-motion mirror and ruled that Isinacho had kicked down Varane's foul first, and the goal was ruled invalid.
The indefensible United launched a fierce attack in the final moments, Sancho had found a good opportunity, Leicester City back Amatei made a mistake, and the English winger shot was directly deflected. Both sides had a chance to kill in stoppage time, with Erlanga and Rashford lacking a tacit understanding and failing to complete the shot. Maguire's header went too far and United lost their final chance of victory, ending with a 1-1 score.
United remained unbeaten at home, ending their last three consecutive defeats against Leicester City in all competitions, avoiding a double-header and four consecutive defeats to the Blue Foxes in team history. But apart from the stoppage time, United played with little urgency and were very lucky to win a draw.
C Ronaldo and Cavani were unable to participate due to injury, the frontless formation arranged by Ronnick in the first half was self-destructive, the lack of fulcrum in the penalty area made it impossible to launch the wing attack, Elanga and Sancho needed to take into account the defensive kicks, unable to boldly run to take advantage of the gap, the 6.18 combination of pseudo-center and successive pass mistakes, Manchester United's position battle was a mess.
Even the goal of the equalizer is not created by the team's active organization, but the attack after the opponent's mistake. Leicester City are the ones who play better on offense and are justifiably disappointed that they didn't get all three points.
Leicester City has no desire, and Vardy, Ndidi and other main players are hanging up the exemption card, in this case, Manchester United is still unable to win at home, fully exposing their own problems.
This time there is no C Ronaldo back pot, that is, Manchester United's offensive and defensive system is not good, the attack lacks routines, and to make matters worse, the players cannot maintain the same strong fighting spirit in the whole 90 minutes of stoppage time. In today's Premier League, a game is played well for only a small portion of the time, which is obviously not enough to score 3 points.