Leading by two goals twice wasn’t enough for a Manchester United team consisting of Angel di Maria, Wayne Rooney, Radamel Falcao and Robin van Persie. They still managed to be beaten 5-3 by Leicester in an incredible second half display, led by Jamie Vardy, Ritchie de Laet and Jose Ulloa.
Early on it looked like all the money spent and the talent assembled at Old Trafford was going to pay dividends for a second consecutive match. Radamel Falcao, with his first start for his new club, showed great vision and touch with a beautiful assist to Robin van Persie, also showing the two of them can play together up front.
Three minutes went by, and it was Wayne Rooney setting up Angel di Maria, using a brilliant touch to chip it above Kasper Schmeichel and give Manchester United a quick 2-0 lead. At that moment, it seemed like the project Louis van Gaal is trying to get going for the last couple of months was finally working like he envisioned.
But before Manchester United fans were able to celebrate their second goal, a quick attack through the right wing, which was exposed all match long with Marcos Rojo looking quite lost in his attempts to stop Vardy, led to Ulloa scoring his fourth goal of the season and putting Leicester back in the match.
Most of the first half was about a physical and hard working Leicester team, pushed from behind by Esteban Cambiasso and De Laet, pushing around Manchester United but not getting an equalizing goal they deserved.
In the second half, Manchester United were back in control, as Chris Smalling seemed to do much better than Jonny Evans in the back. After more than 10 minutes of dominance, Ander Herrera gave them a 3-1 lead, which this time seemed a bit too much for Leicester to bounce back from.
But Manchester United are terrible defensively, and a team playing direct and physical football took advantage of that, as Jamie Vardy got away with a dive in the box to give David Nungent a chance to make it a contest again in the 62nd minute.
From here on out Manchester United were wiped off the pitch by the pace and physicality of the home side. Esteban Cambiasso scored his first goal in the Premier League from outside the box in the 64th minute to level things at 3-3, and 15 minutes later it was another brilliant piece of off the ball movement from Vardy that resulted in goal, this time with his finish, giving Leicester a deserved lead.
The finish was sadder for Manchester United, as Vardy was fouled by Tyler Blackett in the penalty box, getting himself sent off and Ulloa converted from the penalty spot to complete a historic second half with four goals conceded by David de Gea.
