Marcus Rashford scored twice to continue his hot streak and help Manchester United overcome Leicester in the Premier League.
Rashford is in career form and is leading United’s recovery at Old Trafford, taking his goals tally to 24 for the season with a strike in each half.
Both efforts were clinical finishes, before curling in passes from Bruno Fernandes and Fred and coolly slotting past Danny Ward.
Substitute Jadon Sancho finished off a fine team move from Erik ten Hague to seal all three points, but it could have been a very different story.
Leicester created the better chances when it was goalless and their failure to find a way past David de Gea proved costly.
The Spaniard made a superb reflex save to deny Harvey Barnes from close range and kept out Kelechi Iheanacho’s diving header with another superb stop.
The defeat ended Leicester’s three-game unbeaten run and an inconsistent season leaves them 14th in the table.
Red-hot Rashford is leading United’s charge.
Manchester United face the most important week of the teenager’s short tenure, taking on Barcelona in the second leg of the Europa League play-offs on Thursday, before traveling to Wembley for their Carabao Cup final. The match will be against Newcastle.
They go into these two big games in form, having lost just three of their 22 league games, and ruthless finishing ended Leicester’s challenge on occasion.
The charge is led by England international Rashford, who has now secured his most impressive campaign for United with three months to play.
The 25-year-old took his tally to 17 goals in 18 games since the end of the World Cup, the most by a player in Europe’s top five leagues.
His goal was characterized by a confident player, who burst through the goal and could have scored a hat-trick when he beat two defenders but drilled his shot straight into Ward.
Diego Delot missed a wonderful chance from six yards, misfiring a superb Fernandes cross, while in the second half Lisandro Martinez’s header against the crossbar was cleared by the home side.
United’s aim at the start of the campaign was to return to the Champions League and they are well on their way to achieving it, sitting third in the table and eight points clear of Eddie Howe’s side in fifth.
Looking at them above, is a title charge out of the question? United are five points behind leaders Arsenal, although the Gunners have played fewer games.
Foxes missed the opportunity.
It was a case of what could have been for Leicester.
Brendan Rodgers’ side come into the game on the back of an emphatic 4-1 victory over Spurs last Saturday but will rue their failure to take their chances this time around.
De Gea denied Barnes and Iheanacho to claim a 180th clean sheet for the Red Devils, drawing level with Peter Schmeichel’s club record.
Leicester’s January signing Tate flashed a shot past the far post and James Maddison deflected an effort off target as the Foxes went home empty-handed.
The hosts could have had a man sent off when Marcel Sabitzer caught defender Wout Faes on the knee with his stud, but neither the referee nor VAR took action.
Leicester will be looking to get back to winning ways but face another big test, hosting table-toppers Arsenal on Saturday (kick-off 15:00 GMT).
