Wes Morgan leveled the score at Old Trafford / Image via dailymail.co.uk
Leicester City will have to wait for at least one more day to become champions after drawing at Manchester United.
Red Devils opened the account through Anthony Martial who converted Antonio Valencia’s cross, but Leicester City levelled nine minutes later as Wes Morgan headed home a free-kick from Danny Drinkwater.
It was an exciting game at Old Trafford with both teams playing an openly contested brand of football much to the pleasure of the Old Trafford crowd.
Ranieri’s men will be biting their nails until tomorrow and a game between Chelsea and Tottenham at Stamford Bridge.
Should Spurs fail to lose, Leicester City would become Premier League champions on Monday night.
Here are the five things we learned from today’s match:
Leicester’s mental strength worthy of champions
Leicester City have been battling pressure in admirable fashion throughout the Premier League season.
They might be just a middle-class football club beating the odds on their way to historic success, but Foxes are a team built on solid foundations with respectable team spirit and positive atmosphere which bring their play up to a different level.
Their resilience is impressive, their will and eagerness to fight back and never give up commendable.
Ranieri’s men have displayed the same character we saw against West Ham, when they refused to go down without a fight. Despite being a goal down having conceded with four minutes from time through Carroll and Creswell, Foxes rose to the occasion with Ulloa’s injury time leveller.
We saw the same pattern against Manchester United as Leicester City refused to be deterred by an early Manchester United goal. Ranieri’s men fought bravely to score the equalizer list ten minutes later and it is fair to say that Leicester City do possess a team spirit worthy of champions.
Vardy’s absence evident
Ulloa was pretty successful deputizing for Jamie Vardy in the last round against Swansea.
Leicester City striker scored a brace to help his team record an important 4-0 win, but his influence was pretty limited at Old Trafford. Manchester United defence proved to be too strong for both Ulloa and Okazaki and Ranieri’s charges lacked Vardy’s speed, pace and agility.
England forward has so far scored 22 Premier League goals, but his ban prevented him from catching up on Sergio Aguero (23) and Harry Kane (24) at the top of the scoring charts.
Vardy’s aggressiveness would have been very welcome against Manchester United, his killer instinct as fearsome reputation would play a crucial part in adding an extra edge to Leicester City’s attack.
Manchester United need to work on the “WOW factor”
Manchester United have done a great deal of investing in team rebuilding last summer, but the team still lacks that “wow factor” fans are eager to see once again.
Without a player to solve games individually, Manchester United rely too much on players like Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, who are supposed to be future stars and not players to bear all of the pressure on their fragile backs.
Manchester United need a creative force such as Riyad Mahrez, a player who could change the entire game with a single moment of brilliance and there is no doubt that United chiefs will be on the lookout for such a player during the summer transfer window.
Fellaini a liability for Red Devils
The world witnessed the Belgian turning on his “thug mode” at Old Trafford once again and once too many times on Sunday against Leicester City.
Marouane Fellaini has thrown a few elbows around during his career and this season already, having narrowly missed a UEFA ban for his start on Liverpool’s Emre Can in the Europa League match in March.
He repeated a similar offence in the replay match with Dejan Lovren, while he has again been at it today with Robert Huth. Leicester City did reply to Fellaini’s elbow with a pull of Belgian’s hair, but the latest incident is just another confirmation of Fellaini’s reckless nature.
AS Roma are believed to have made contacts and Manchester United should consider selling him this summer.
Mahrez can play in any club on the planet
Riyad Mahrez is a deserved winner of this year’s PFA Player of the Year award and he has confirmed it once again at Manchester United.
The Algerian playmaker has displayed fantastic sets of technique in numerous occasions having put Red Devils to much trouble containing him and the 25-year-ols continues to have huge impact on Leicester’s play.
Foxes will struggle to keep the hot-shot midfielder past this season since host of clubs have expressed interest to sign hi, during summer.
Barcelona are believed to be waiting in the frontline, but Leicester City are hopeful they could shrug off any interest for their player.
Foxes are willing to offer Claudio Ranieri and Riyad Mahrez lucrative new contracts in order to keep them around next season as well.
One is sure to stay, but the other just might be too tempted to go elsewhere. And it has to be said – Mahrez deserves to play at the highest level.
MANCHESTER UNITED: de Gea 7 – Valencia 7, Smalling 6.5, Blind 7, Rojo 6.5 – Carrick 7 – Lingard 6.5 (Mata 6.5), Fellaini 6 (Herrera 6), Rooney 7, Martial 7.5 – Rashford 6 (Depay 6).
Unused subs: Darmian, Fosu-Mensah, Romero, Schneiderlin.
LEICESTER CITY: Schmeichel 6.5 – Simpson 6.5, Morgan 7.5, Huth 7, Fuchs 7 – Mahrez 7.5 (King 6), Kante 7.5, Drinkwater 5.5, Schlupp 6 (Albrighton 6.5) – Okazaki 6.5 (Gray 6.5), Ulloa 6.
Unused subs: Amartey, Chilwell, Schwarzer, Wasilewski.
REFEREE: Michael Oliver
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