Man Utd edge Leicester City
MANCHESTER UNITED extended their unbeaten run under interim boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to 10 games with a narrow victory against Leicester at the King Power Stadium.
Marcus Rashford continued his goalscoring form with the winner in the ninth minute - his 10th goal of the season.
Ricardo Pereira’s poor clearance was straight into the path of Paul Pogba, who lofted the ball towards Rashford, the England striker allowing it to come over his shoulder before taking a neat touch and drilling a low shot past Kasper Schmeichel.
Inconsistency has been the story of Leicester’s season and this defeat came on the back of a well-earned point at Liverpool on Wednesday, but they did have their chances.
Jamie Vardy connected with a bicycle kick after James Maddison’s free-kick bounced off the wall, but fired straight at David de Gea.
De Gea also made a diving one-handed save to prevent Rachid Ghezzal’s free-kick from hitting the top corner of his goal.
United dropped their first points under Solskjaer in a 2-2 draw with Burnley on Tuesday, but boosted their hopes of a top-four spot and Champions League football next season with yesterday’s win.
They move up to fifth, two points behind Chelsea in fourth. Leicester, meanwhile, stay in 11th.
This was a case of United getting the job done, without ever really moving up through the gears.
Against Burnley, Solskjaer’s starting XI had struggled in attack and he swung the axe for the trip to Leicester with Romelu Lukaku dropped to the bench in one of four changes.
Alexis Sanchez, Jesse Lingard, Ander Herrera and Eric Bailly returned to the team and United started on the front foot.
Rashford missed a close-range header in the fourth minute, before making amends with his goal.
Sanchez started on the left side of the attack but barely contributed in his 67 minutes on the pitch, cutting an isolated figure and failing to register a shot.
But Solskjaer defended the Chilean, saying: “He worked really well defensively. He is improving all the time.”
Although dominant for large parts of the game, United only mustered six attempts on target.
Four of those came in the first half, while it took until the 87th for their first shot on target in the second half, an easy save by Schmeichel from Lukaku, on as a late substitute.
And there were nervous moments at the end of the match as Leicester pushed for an equaliser.
But another clean sheet and their ninth win in 10 games under Solskjaer continued their momentum under the Norwegian, with a tricky run of fixtures coming up including Paris St-Germain in the Champions League, Chelsea in the FA Cup and Liverpool in the Premier League.
“Our attitude was spot on,” Solskjaer told Sky Sports. “There are a couple of bruised noses and knees.
“It is supposed to be like this. There are three points on the line. Our lads sacrificed everything they had. They know they can do better than this but a clean sheet is always a foundation to build on.”
The Foxes have performed well against top-six sides, with a draw at Anfield and wins against Chelsea and Manchester City.
But they failed to build on that momentum and continued their dreadful home record, losing their third consecutive game at the King Power.
The home fans will also have been disappointed to see midfielder Youri Tielemans, who joined on loan from Monaco on deadline day, left out of the match-day squad.
Leicester paid the price for a slow start, but responded well after conceding early, finishing the first half the stronger and continued to threaten after the break.
James Maddison was their most threatening attacking player, but he was replaced by Ghezzal after just the hour mark - an unpopular move with the home fans by manager Claude Puel.
The Frenchman defended his decision, saying: “We have to find a solution. We have players on the bench who have quality.”
A flurry of chances fell the home team’s way in the dying minutes, with Vardy missing with a weak shot and Harry Maguire shooting wide in the 94th minute.
The pressure will remain on Puel, who is now without a win since 1 January, a run of six games.
“We started the game with a poor performance and without intensity,” he added. “It was a shame. In the second half we showed a lot of things with more desire and quality in our play.
“We put them under pressure at the end of the game but it was not enough.” — BBC Sport SERGIO Aguero’s 14th hat-trick for Manchester City closed the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool to only two points after victory over Arsenal at Etihad Stadium.
Aguero — as he did in Monday’s shock defeat at Newcastle United — put the reigning champions ahead inside the first minute, but Arsenal swiftly restored equality as Laurent Koscielny escaped poor marking to head home from a corner.
City’s nerves were eased by a magnificent second from Aguero just before the break, rounding off a perfectly constructed move between Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling with a simple finish at the far post.
Aguero secured City’s win when he bundled in Sterling’s cross after 61 minutes as attention now switches to Liverpool’s visit to West Ham United on Monday night (20:00 GMT).
Aguero may be 30 but he shows no signs of losing any of the natural marksmanship that marks him down as world-class and one of the greatest strikers of the Premier League era.
The Argentine has now scored 157 goals in 227 appearances and he was the man Pep Guardiola was able to count on once more as Manchester City maintained the pressure on Liverpool in the title race.
Aguero’s goals were all close range finishes but City could have no-one better at the sharp end of all their brilliant passing and movement and he could easily have had more.
What is often overlooked is Aguero’s tireless work ethic, constantly defending from the front - one burst of energy to close down Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno and the Gunners’ defence drawing warm applause from both his manager and the City supporters.
City needed to get the show back on the road after that slip on Tyneside and it was Aguero who gave them the perfect start then lifted them again after Arsenal worked their way back into the game.
The standing ovation Aguero received when he was replaced by Gabriel Jesus with 10 minutes left was richly deserved.
The further Unai Emery goes into his first season at Arsenal after succeeding Arsene Wenger, the clearer it becomes that this is a major work in progress and patience will be required.
Arsenal have sparkled at times this season, especially in home wins against Spurs and Chelsea, but it is clear they still remain way behind the big hitters at the top of the Premier League and have dropped down to sixth in the table after rejuvenated Manchester United’s latest win at Leicester City.
Emery now faces a real battle to get into the top four but he still has the Europa League to aim for - a competition that was his speciality at Sevilla - as he tries to get Arsenal into the Champions League.
Matteo Guendouzi again showed his promise, especially in the first half and Lucas Torreira is a quality addition, while in attack Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette are a serious threat.
Emery has also seen his defensive resources hit by long-term injuries to the likes of Rob Holding and Hector Bellerin but there is no question serious work needs to be done to strengthen Arsenal’s squad. Arsenal showed occasional flashes in the first half, but looked lightweight and impotent set against City and this was a day when the scale of Emery’s task, and the time he will need to try and accomplish it, was exposed. — BBC Sport