‘Foxes preyed on weary United with high-press tactic’
YOURI Tielemans believes Leicester City were able to exploit United’s tiredness using a high press in Sunday’s FA Cup encounter between the two sides.
United exited the competition at the quarter-final stage as they suffered a 3-1 loss to the Foxes.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer rang the changes from the United side that had beaten AC Milan in the Europa League on Thursday evening in an attempt to inject some freshness into his team.
Yet they struggled to get going and looked off the pace for large periods against an energetic Leicester side that pressed high up the pitch.
Tielemans, who scored his side’s second goal in the contest, said that the Foxes had looked to make the most of their midweek off and play a high energy game.
“We knew they came from a
European game on Thursday, which was a very quick turnaround for them,” Tielemans said. “They’ve played a lot of games. “We knew in the first half, and the second half as well, we could press them high up the pitch and put them under pressure.
“It worked out well.
“It’s a big win, when you win a quarter-final it’s always a big win. Against such a good team, it was going to be tough but we did great.
“We went 1-0 up and then they got a goal, but I felt like we were in control the whole game and then we scored two good goals in the second half. We kept working together and kept the lines tight.
“Every cup win is special. Manchester United are a good team, a good club, with a lot of history. We know that in the cups that we have to beat the best if we want to go all of the way. Today we made a good statement.
“We need to keep going like that.”