Man Utd 5-2 Leicester: Ruud van Nistelrooy gets off to a winning start in the Carabao Cup

Manchester United responded to the sacking of Erik ten Hag with a 5-2 win over a weakened Leicester side to reach the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup in a convincing first game for interim coach Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Blame Sunday’s defeat against West Ham, Ten Hag’s last game, on a poor finish, but United have regained their confidence in front of goal under Van Nistelrooy, helped by Steve Cooper, who was in the Premier League ahead of Leicester’s trip to Ipswich made nine changes.

Casemiro lifted a dismal Old Trafford with a great long-range shot and opened the scoring by firing the ball straight into the top corner. Alejandro Garnacho quickly followed up and doubled United’s lead, driving in from Diogo Dalot’s cross from the right.

Bruno Fernandes, who had not scored before this game, scored twice on the night, his first a free kick assisted by a deflection four minutes after Leicester’s drawback from Bilal El Khannouss. Casemiro then pounced on a rebound and added his second goal soon after.

Fernandes’ second goal was another timely intervention as United had fallen behind after Conor Coady equalized in first-half stoppage time. The United captain went around Leicester goalkeeper Danny Ward and shot home from close range.

United, winners of the Carabao Cup under Ten Hag in 2023, were not distracted by speculation surrounding new coach Ruben Amorim and maintained their impressive cup form. Leicester, on the other hand, clearly have different priorities.

Van Nistelrooy: We had luck on our side

Manchester United Interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy:

“We scored some great goals, the first was a beautiful goal from Casemiro. I also have to say that we were a bit lucky too.”

“Two posts and the ball lands at Casemiro’s feet and Bruno’s free-kick is deflected and goes in, but it’s the first for him in a long time, so I’m so happy for him that he’s on the scoresheet twice.”

“Five goals, but we created a lot more chances against West Ham, Fenerbahce and Brentford. Suddenly we had a bit of luck on our side, which made it a great day.”

Cooper: We were dominant but gave United chances to hurt us

Leicester City Boss Steve Cooper:

“I just told the boys that we can’t make mistakes like we did. There were many phases in the game where we were completely dominant. United are a counter-attacking team, they have really good players and we gave them too many moments to hurt us.

“Look at the second half, we were absolutely dominant. United couldn’t get into our half and then we conceded a goal.”

“I know this season will be a bit like tonight – you do some really good things but then there are setbacks and mistakes. But we have to make sure we really focus on getting the good moments and good results. It’s always about “I’m looking forward to it.”