POGBA SHOWS ONCE MORE HE'S THE DOMINANT LEADER OF MAN UTD'S NEW DAWN

The midfielder was at the heart once more as United beat Leicester 2-0 at Old Trafford

When Jose Mourinho appointed Michael Carrick as Manchester United’s captain in the summer he refused to identify an understudy for the veteran midfielder. The Portuguese explained that, while the armband would be handed to somebody or other, with Antonio Valencia so far being given that honour, he expected a number of his players to act like leaders on the field.

In Paul Pogba, United have their leader in style if not in name. The 2-0 victory over Leicester City on Saturday was the latest exhibition of the Frenchman’s accession to the throne. One year on from the questions and the claims he was a waste of money at £89.5 million, Pogba is now the beating heart of everything good about Mourinho’s side.

With Nemanja Matic added to the midfield, Pogba has so much more licence to get involved in attacks than he had during his first full season with the club last term. And he is sure as hell using that space too.

That looked set to be the case when they were awarded a penalty in the 53rd minute following Danny Simpson’s handball from an Anthony Martial cross, but Romelu Lukaku saw his attempt from the spot brilliantly saved by Kasper Schmeichel.

They eventually got their goal when Marcus Rashford side-footed home from Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s right-wing corner, with Schmeichel seemingly caught flat-footed by Eric Bailly’s near-post run.

Rashford’s goal was United’s sixth to come in the 70th minute or later in their three league games so far, and Marouane Fellaini’s inadvertent goal eight minutes from the end made it seven. In 2016-17 they scored a grand total of just 13 in the same period while conceding nine as they often found themselves hanging on in the latter stages of the game.