Manchester United will play Leicester City in the Premier League on Saturday evening for the very first time since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reign came to an end with a particularly devastating defeat.
In the last weeks of Solskjaer’s stint as United manager, there were many low points. The 5-0 thumping by Liverpool at Old Trafford, Manchester City’s most one-sided 2-0 defeat in the same venue, and the last nail in the coffin, a brutally awful 4-1 hammering by Watford.
But there was another setback before those legendary defeats. United had a fantastic away record as they arrived at the King Power Stadium on October 16, 2021. Solskjaer has a 29-game undefeated away streak in the English Premier League. However, the team’s record was doing nothing to hide the fractures that were beginning to show.
Leicester mercilessly dissected them, scoring three late goals to seal a 4-2 victory and end United’s five-game winning streak on the road. Harry Maguire, who went to his former club, put in a weak effort, and was brutally booed by the fans throughout the afternoon, had a deeply unpleasant day.
Despite generating many personal errors and being trounced throughout the day, Solskjaer’s team might have taken a point back to Manchester and continued their unprecedented run. In the 82nd minute, Marcus Rashford came off the substitute to equalize, but United’s subsequent collapse exposed a fractured squad.
Leicester retook the lead right away to make it 3-2 and then added another goal later in the game to put a deserved cap on the game. There was more humiliation to follow after the final whistle.
United’s heartbroken players wanted to vacate the field and nurse their wounds in the dressing room, but Solskjaer requested they stay on and applaud the away fans, according to the Manchester Evening News. After playing the entire 90 minutes of the game, Cristiano Ronaldo was observed to seem extremely hesitant.
United supporters greeted United’s remorseful Norwegian manager with cheers, but it was an unsettling scene that previewed the troubles that would arise over the next month.
Solskjaer was bound to protect his players in his post-match press conference, denying that they had an attitude issue.
After the last defeat to Leicester City, Solskjaer was reported to have said “We’ve been really good at showing our character when we needed it. These boys have [been] coming out fighting. The attitude has always been good. We need to stick together. In training, they want to do better. Today we weren’t capable of it.
Even though Solskjaer is no longer in charge, United are still battling with many of the same dilemmas as they prepare to face Leicester City on Saturday.
