Better without Rooney?

Manchester United got back to winning ways in the Premier League with a 4-1 victory over champions Leicester at Old Trafford. Dropping Wayne Rooney paid off, writes Adam Bate.

Manchester United had won their first three Premier League games only to lose the next two. One thing all five matches had in common was that Jose Mourinho’s men were outrun by their opponents. That changed on Saturday against champions Leicester City of all teams. And it coincided with the removal of Wayne Rooney from the starting line-up.

The United captain began on the bench in a Premier League game for only the third time in four seasons and while it would be unfair to blame him entirely for the erstwhile lack of urgency shown by the side up to this point, it was conspicuous just how much more intense they looked in his absence. Mourinho’s decision to go with “the two fast kids” paid off.

“I think we started well for the first time,” said the Portuguese manager afterwards. “We thought against a team like Leicester, the way they defend we thought the best solution for us was to play with the two fast kids and Juan Mata in a position where he can interact with these fast kids. From a defensive point of view it was important to have fast players on the pitch.”

Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard certainly fulfilled their remit. The former scored his 12th goal for the club since February while the latter provided that much-needed energy, making more sprints – far more – than any other player. With the tempo restored, United looked a different proposition altogether and the game was over as a contest before half time.

Of course, much of that was due to Leicester’s inability to defend corners rather than anything Rooney had previously been doing – or not doing – in that No 10 …

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