Leicester City 2-2 Manchester United: 5 Talking Points as Red Devils twice surrender lead | Premier League 2020-21
An exciting matcn at the King Power Stadium ended with the two teams canceling each other out in a four-goal thriller that saw the visitors lose Victor Lindelof to injury.
Manchester United traveled to the East Midlands seeking to usurp Leicester City at second place and started the game on the front foot, with Marcus Rashford missing a golden opportunity as early as the second minute.
The Red Devils cranked up the pressure and soon got the goal their early dominance deserved when Rashford made amends for his earlier miss with a well-taken goal in the 23rd minute.
Some good interplay on the right saw Manchester United get the ball into the box and Bruno Fernandes set Rashford up with a deft flick from which the England striker made no mistake.
Their lead, however, lasted just seven minutes, as defensive errors by both Harry Maguire and Fernandes allowed James Maddison steal the ball in a dangerous position.
The former Norwich man teed up Harvey Barnes who found the back of the net from outside the box with a left-footed strike.
Neither side could find another breakthrough and the first half ended all square.
The hosts started the second half more brightly with Wilfred Ndidi and Youri Tielemans ensuring that Manchester United were put on the back foot, but the Red Devils soon grew into the game, with Rashford forcing a fine save from Kasper Schmeichel, while Anthony Martial put the ball in the back of the net only to be rightly flagged for offside.
The France international was soon hauled off for Edinson Cavani with quarter of an hour to go and the former PSG man needed just four minutes to make his mark on the game, feeding Fernandes with a well-timed through pass which was turned in with an excellent finish.
Manchester United once again failed to protect their lead for long, as just six minutes later, a cross by Ayoze Perez was turned in by Jamie Vardy off an Axel Tuanzebe deflection.
A draw was probably the right result on the overall balance of play and here we shall be having a rundown of five talking points from the fixture.
#5 Advantage Liverpool heading into the new year
Liverpool are defending champions and are currently setting the pace in the Premier League.
The Reds came into this weekend four points clear of Leicester City and five ahead of Manchester United, with the latter having a game in hand.
This fixture offered an opportunity for one of their nearest rivals to close the gap on Jurgen Klopp's men, while also steering further clear of the chasing pack.
However, the draw means that neither of those happened and this gives Liverpool the advantage heading into the new year.
If the Reds can beat an out-of-form West Brom, they could potentially go six points clear at the top (depending on results elsewhere) and both Manchester United and Leicester City would be ruing the missed chance.
#4 Manchester United see record-breaking away run come to an end
Manchester United have been by far the form team on the road this season and they came into this fixture as the only side in the Premier League with a 100% record on the road.
They had won their opening six away games of the season, which, coupled with last season's wins, meant that they were on a 14-game winning run on the road in domestic competitions.
With 11 minutes to go, it looked like Manchester United were on course to make it 15 wins in a row and equal the record of 11 away Premier League wins held by Manchester City and Chelsea.
However, the Foxes had other ideas to ensure that Manchester United failed to win on the road for the first time since their 1-1 draw with Tottenham in June.