Man Utd hold off Leeds fightback to seal victory in thriller

Manchester United held off a spirited Leeds fightback as Ralf Rangnick’s side secured a thrilling 4-2 victory at Elland Road on Super Sunday.

After wins for Tottenham and Arsenal on Saturday, Man Utd knew they could not afford to drop points in the race to finish in the Premier League’s top four, and after withstanding plenty of early Leeds pressure, the ferocious Elland Road atmosphere and the sodden conditions, the visitors grew into the game.

And they should have been ahead in the 26th minute when Cristiano Ronaldo wasted a glorious chance to open the scoring. Paul Pogba beat Adam Forshaw and fired in a low cross to set up what looked like a Ronaldo tap in, but Illan Meslier showed brilliant reactions to keep the scores level.

However, Man Utd soon silenced the home fans as they finally scored from a corner at the 140th time of asking. Harry Maguire got the better of Diego Llorente with the under-pressure United skipper powering home a header and wheeling off to celebrate in front of the Leeds fans.

The visitors would be celebrating again deep into six minutes of stoppage time as Jadon Sancho’s superb cross teed up Bruno Fernandes to head home to make it 2-0 at half-time.

Leeds, who had already replaced Robin Koch with Junior Firpo after the defender had picked up a head injury, made a double change as Raphinha and Joe Gelhardt replaced Jack Harrison and Llorente as they looked to get back into the game, and it burst into life for the home side.

Rodrigo’s hopeful left-footed cross in search of Raphinha somehow ended up beating David de Gea as Leeds grabbed a much-needed lifeline.

United had not even caught their breath when the hosts stormed forwards once again, with Daniel James driving a low cross to the far post for Raphinha to turn home just 24 seconds later. The video assistant referee checked for a Forshaw foul on Fernandes in the build-up, but the goal stood to send Elland Road wild.

The visitors then made a double change of their own and it had the desired impact for Rangnick, who turned to Fred and Anthony Elanga to replace the impressive Pogba and Jesse Lingard. The move paid dividends as the Fred rifled past Meslier to restore United’s advantage in the 70th minute.

And United then made the game safe in the 89th minute as Elanga, who was struck by a missile in the celebrations of Fred’s goal, put his finger to his lips in celebration after slotting past Meslier to round off a big win for Manchester United.

What does it mean for the Premier league table?

The win means Manchester United move onto 46 points and they have a four-point cushion to the chasing pack, which is lead by West Ham in fifth. Arsenal are also four points behind United, while Spurs are seven back, but both of the north London sides have three games in hand on Rangnick’s side.

United are now just four points behind third-placed Chelsea having played a game more than Thomas Tuchel’s side.

Meanwhile, Leeds have dropped below one point per game for this season as the gap between them and the relegation zone stays at five points.

Man of the match – Jadon Sancho

Sky Sports’ Gary Neville: “I have to give Sancho man of the match for his two assists.

“He is definitely getting better, and he looks much more comfortable in this Manchester United shirt.

“It’s been Manchester United’s quality, in the end, that has won this game. His delicate chipped cross in the first half for Bruno Fernandes’ goal and the reverse pass to Fred for the third played a crucial part in the win.”

What’s next?

Leeds travel to Anfield to face Liverpool in the Premier League on Wednesday; kick-off 7.30pm.

Meanwhile, Manchester United host Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday (kick-off 8pm) before hosting Watford on Saturday in the Premier League; kick-off 3pm.