clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Leicester City falls 2-1 in Community Shield to Zlatan and Manchester United

It took a late headed goal from Zlatan Ibrahimovic to win the Community Shield for Manchester United.

Alex Broadway/Getty Images

Leicester City fell to Manchester United 2-1 in the F.A Community Shield after a late goal from Zlatan Ibrahimovic sunk the Foxes.

The first half proved a drab affair. Despite the off chance at either end, the pace was slow and neither side looked particularly dangerous. Jamie Vardy was one exception, looking fairly lively and willing to take on Manchester United's Eric Bailly. Although Vardy proved energetic, he was unable to get the better of Bailly in the first 45.

The Foxes most threatening chance of the half came through a Marc Albrighton corner. After some excellent work by Vardy to win the corner, Shinji Okazaki was able to get his head on the ball, but was denied by the crossbar.

Manchester United were dominating possession and finally capitalized through a stunning solo effort from Jesse Lingard. Take nothing away from the effort, but it was awful defending from Leicester. Lingard thrashed the Foxes backline, making his way through three men before slotting the ball into the back of the net. Wes Morgan as the last defender made the decision to go to ground and completely missed the ball, sloppy play from the captain.

Still, Leicester were able to equalize early in the second half after the introduction of Ahmed Musa. The  combination of both him and Vardy is already looking extremely dangerous. The goal came thanks to a lazy pass back from Man United's Marouane Fellaini, who originally did well to intercept Musa before he could pick out Vardy, but put nowhere near enough power on the ball back to his keeper, allowing Vardy to pounce on it and finish in textbook fashion.

The game seemed likely to go to penalties before Ibrahimovic was able to leap above Morgan to latch onto a brilliant cross by Antonio Valencia in the 83rd minute. The perfectly placed header was enough to finish the Foxes and hand Manchester United the Community Shield.

Overall, Leicester's performance still had a touch of the preseason feel to it, but the partnership of Musa and Vardy already looks extremely exciting.