Manchester United thrashed Leicester City 5-2 at Old Trafford to reach the quarterfinals of the EFL Cup as a new reign begins at the Theatre of Dreams after Erik ten Hag was sacked by the club earlier this week.
Former club’s forward Ruud van Nistelrooy, who was one of Ten Hag’s assistant coaches, was immediately handed the mantle to take charge of the team on an interim basis until a permanent replacement is named.
Nistelrooy’s first duty in charge of the Red Devils was the round of 16 tie against Leicester City on Wednesday, with Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes scoring braces to give the Dutchman a flying start.
Casemiro opened the scoring for United in the 15th minute with the Brazilian firing a long-range corner, which rocketed the crossbar on its way into the top-right corner of the net.
Two minutes before the half-hour mark, Alejandro Garnacho doubled the lead for the hosts as the unmarked Argentine youngster from the far post finished Diogo Dalot’s cross from the left side of the pitch.
Bilal El Khannous pulled one back for Leicester City in the 33rd minute before Fernandes got his first of the night after his free kick was deflected into the net by James Justin’s head three minutes later.
In the 39th minute, Casemiro scored his brace from a loose ball inside the box. Conor Coady scored to make it 4-2 just before the halftime break.
The only goal of the second half came in the 59th minute when Fernandes hijacked Memeh Caleb Okoli’s short pass to Danny Ward, allowing the Portuguese to dribble past the goalkeeper before latching the ball into the net.
Van Nistelrooy got off with an impressive start, but it is unclear how long the Dutch’s tenure will last, with Manchester United on the verge of appointing Sporting Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim as their permanent manager.
In the other EFL Cup round of 16 matches, Tottenham defeated Manchester City 2-1 to knock them out of the competition. Liverpool beat Brighton 3-2, Arsenal thrashed Preston 3-0.
Meanwhile, Chelsea are out of the competition too after losing 2-0 to Newcastle United at Saint James’ Park while Crystal Palace stunned Aston Villa 2-1 at home.
Full EFL Cup round of 16 results:
Manchester United 5 vs 2 Leicester City
Aston Villa 1 vs 2 Crystal Palace
Brighton 2 vs 3 Liverpool
Newcastle United 2 vs 0 Chelsea
Preston 0 vs 3 Arsenal
Tottenham 2 vs 1 Manchester City.
