The way they played on Saturday, it looked like Leicester City players had been out celebrating last season’s Premier League title until the wee hours of Friday night.
Manchester United arrived for the early kickoff at Old Trafford determined to avoid a third consecutive league defeat, and came out guns blazing.
With Wayne Rooney dropped, captain for the day Chris Smalling blasted in a header in the 22nd minute to go one goal up. It was the precursor to a thoroughly dominant first half by United, who won 4-1.
“It’s a nice honor the manager gives me, and I just try and play up — armband or not — but it’s a nice touch,” Smalling said on Sky Sports after the match.
The Red Devils withstood a couple of near misses — one by Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 27th minute on a spectacular turnaround miss, and another from Marcus Rashford on a clear breakaway — before Juan Mata’s 37th minute left-footed strike hit the mark from the edge of the penalty area.
Rashford made it 3-0 just two minutes later with a tap in which caught Leicester’s defenders asleep.
And Paul Pogba — United’s $100 million man — made it 4-0 in the 41st minute, with a header in the box. It was his first goal for United, after a heavily scrutinized first month on the job.
By that point, Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri must have been desperate to get back to the dressing room. His first move was to bench star striker Jamie Vardy.
Leicester’s Demarai Gray provided some consolation in the 59th minute with a right-footed strike from well outside the box that rocked the upper corner of the net, past David de Gea — but a loss was already in the cards for the Foxes, who drop to 12th place on the Premier League table.
Meanwhile, United move to three points behind leaders Manchester City, who play Swansea later in the day.
As for Rooney’s exclusion, Jose Mourinho endorsed his star striker, who appears to have been eclipsed in the pecking order by Ibrahimovic.
“He is a big player for me, a big player for United, and a big player for this country,” said Mourinho. “I have nothing left to say.”