Ruud van Nistelrooy enjoyed the dream start to life as interim manager of Manchester United with a 5-2 win against Leicester City in the Carabao Cup fourth round at a buoyant Old Trafford.
After being serenaded by the home fans, the first goal of Van Nistelrooy’s reign came inside 15 minutes, and from the same player who scored the final goal under Erik ten Hag, Casemiro. At West Ham, he headed home from all of three yards out, while here he stuck one in the top corner from 30 yards, giving Foxes keeper Danny Ward no chance and van Nistelrooy an early reason to celebrate.
He had another 13 minutes later, Alejandro Garnacho scoring at the end of a slick move featuring Casemiro, again, and Diogo Dalot, smashing it high past Ward for his sixth goal of the season. It was a finish the legendary Dutch striker would have been proud of.
This kickstarted a wild ending to the half, with four more goals coming in a 12-minute period, two for each side. Leicester got on the scoresheet through Bilal El Khannous after Altay Bayindir failed to adequately deal with a cross, before Bruno Fernandes saw a free kick deflect off James Justin and in for his first of the campaign, and Casemiro get another from close range.
Conor Coady tapped home after a free kick bounced off Dalot and into his path, before the referee blew his whistle on the most entertaining half of football Old Trafford has seen in a long time.
Leicester started the second half strongly, but the game ended as a contest when Fernandes got his second just before the hour mark, capitalising on a wayward back pass to round Ward and finish. It capped off a fine night for the United captain, who alongside his Brazilian midfield partner, was the best player on the pitch.
With Ruben Amorim being lined up to replace Ten Hag on a permanent basis, van Nistelrooy’s time in charge is set to be brief, but if tonight is anything to go by, he, and everyone connected with United, wants to make the most of it.
