Manchester United took on Leicester City in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup aiming to reach the quarter final stage after falling at this hurdle last year to Newcastle United.
The game began with Ruud van Nistelrooy leading out the Red Devils for the first time as interim coach after Erik ten Hag’s dismissal on Monday afternoon.
The Red Devils lined up with Altay Bayindir making his second appearance of the season and third of his United career.
In a change of system, the Reds lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with Diogo Dalot, Matthijs De Ligt, Victor Lindelof and Lisandro Martinez lining up in the back four.
Manuel Ugarte and Casemiro made up the midfield double pivot with Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho creating the width. Bruno Fernandes started up front alongside Joshua Zirkzee.
Here are three things we learned from the match.
Van Nistelrooy takes the shackles off
Van Nistelrooy’s United roared into action as they scored four first half goals on the Dutchman’s debut in the dugout.
Two strikes from Casemiro, Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes put the Red Devils in a commanding position as they drove forward.
The former United striker promised attacking football and he delivered as his team leapt forward and were electric at times, putting a poor Leicester defence to the sword, just like the United the legendary striker would have been accustomed to playing in.
Old problems certainly continue to exist, such as questionable defending which also saw the Foxes bag a couple of first half goals. Nonetheless, the verve in which the home side attacked will certainly breathe optimism into United fans, and they will excitedly wonder what the soon-to-be announced new manager Ruben Amorim will be able to do with such an attack.
As for Van Nistelrooy, supporters will be hoping there is a way for him to stay on in some capacity under the new regime as losing him only after a few months would be tough for his adoring crowd to stomach, even with the excitement and promise of a new regime.
Casemiro pulls a Christian Eriksen
Both midfielders were brought into the club by former coach Erik ten Hag in the summer of 2022 and despite promising debut campaigns, looked to be on the scrap heap this summer.
The two veterans remained at the club however and Eriksen has shocked the fanbase with his impressive displays in this campaign.
Casemiro has also come into his own of late and he scored what would be the last goal of the Ten Hag era on Sunday at the London Stadium.
Today he curled in a fine strike from range that also proved to be the opener to the Van Nistelrooy era and added a second from inside the penalty box. He even could have had a first half hat-trick if he had guided a free header from a free-kick with more care.
Evidently the Brazil international is not the long-term answer at Old Trafford but he is asking the question, just like Eriksen, as to whether the club is perhaps being a little hasty in aiming to move him on.
Bruno Fernandes will now hope to kick on
The Portuguese has had his toughest spell as a United player as of late with two red cards and a failure to score in the first two and a bit months of the season.
He has often looked a shadow of himself at times and this was evident earlier in the first half when after finding himself in a great position to shoot, he strangely opted to try to find Joshua Zirkzee, passing up the opportunity to score.
His moment finally came via a fortunate deflection from a free kick which opened his account for the campaign.
Just like London buses, his second arrived shortly after in the second half when he capitalised on a poor back pass and nonchalantly fired home his second of the match.
The probable arrival of his compatriot Amorim will hopefully bring back a spring in the creative genius’ step as an on-song Bruno usually only means positive things for the Red Devils’ fanbase.
Featured image Michael Regan via Getty Images
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