MAKING THEIR MARC
Leicester 0 Man Utd 1: Rashford and Pogba combine to fire Solskjaer’s side two points off Prem top-four
Red Devils young superstar hit his eighth goal in 13 games as Solskajer's unbeaten run continued
MARCUS RASHFORD was once again Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s fox in the box as he fired Man United to within touching distance of the top-four.
Red Devils’ reinvigorated front man took his tally to 10 goals for the season, in his 100th Premier League appearance, to down a spirited Leicester side and leapfrog Arsenal into fifth.
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It may turn out to be a temporary switch as Unai Emery's men face take on Man City at the Etihad Stadium.
But Solskjaer, who saw his unbeaten run stretch to ten games, is now just two points off fourth-place Chelsea having shrunk the 11-point gap in little over a month.
And his hopes of taking the job on a permanent basis become more realistic with every victory as the baby-faced assassin continues to turn back the clock.
This week, the interim boss brought £500,000-a-week man Alexis Sanchez back into his starting line-up, yet his contribution was minimal.
Instead, the biggest threat, as it has been so often since Solskjaer took the reins, was from the local lad Rashford.
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Despite missing a golden chance early on, Rashford made amends inside just 10 minutes.
When Ricardo Perreira’s misplaced pass was pounded on by Paul Pogba, the World Cup winner looped the ball into Rashford’s path with the perfect pass.
Rashford’s first touch killed the ball and his second dispatched it past Kasper Schmeichel with a new-found composure.
The 21-year-old is swiftly adding a clinical edge to his game, and Solskjaer’s work with him is paying dividends with the first-half strike his eighth in 13 games.
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It was United’s exciting young Englishman who gave the visitors the lead, and it was Leicester’s who came closest to pulling the hosts level.
James Maddison, the bargain buy of last summer, got in behind the United defence but found his path blocked by a combination of Luke Shaw and Eric Bailly.
Claude Puel’s side were still on a high from the midweek draw with league leaders Liverpool but they found a solid defensive partnership in Bailly and Victor Lindelof.
There was little the duo could do, though, when Maddison’s deflected free-kick looped up and left Jamie Vardy flying through the air with an acrobatic bicycle kick that went straight at David de Gea.
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Vardy threatened but it was Maddison who was Leicester’s most dangerous man, which made it all the more puzzling when Puel hooked him with half-an-hour remaining.
The Foxes faithful showed their shock with audible groans as the England man trudged off in place of Rachid Ghezzal.
It may have been an unpopular decision but it almost paid off when the Algerian’s free-kick late in the game was arrowing towards the top corner before a stunning interception from De Gea.
The Spanish keeper is so often the saviour for United, and his contribution was ultimately as crucial as Rashford’s at the other end.
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