United put smiles back on fans' faces

JUAN Mata admits Manchester United needed the show of strength against reigning champions Leicester City to get back on track.

The international break brought with it a dramatic change in fortunes for United, with Community Shield success and three straight Premier League wins followed by a three-match losing streak in all competitions.

Jose Mourinho's men avoided the ignominy of a fourth loss by overcoming Northampton in the EFL Cup on Wednesday, but the spectre of a third straight league defeat remained.

That has only happened once in the Portuguese's managerial career and was avoided in some style against Leicester, with Chris Smalling, Mata, Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba scoring during a thrilling first half.

Mata was pleased to put a smile back on United fans' faces and hopes similar successes are to follow the 4-1 win at Old Trafford.

Asked if it was the perfect answer to recent struggles, he said: "I think so. I think we needed something like this.

"It is true that we came here after two defeats in the Premier League, we won the cup game during the week but we needed something like this, you know?

"There was a lot of talk about the team and we showed today we can do. I think it was a very good first half, scoring four goals, different goals. We showed how good we are."

Mata could not remember a more dominant and exciting first-half display since joining United from Chelsea in January 2014.

As well as the attacking panache, there was a clinical side to their game, with three of their goals coming from Daley Blind corners.

"We were always working on that," Mata told MUTV. "We know that we have strong people, tall people, going to head the ball or to kick it in.

"We showed that we are very strong.

"It was a nice goal between Daley, me and Marcus.

"We tried a few times last season and it never worked, but today finally it worked."

Mata hopes United can rack up two more wins before the international break, with Stoke visiting after taking on Zorya Luhansk in the Europa League on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Mourinho played down the significance of his decision to leave Wayne Rooney out of Manchester United's starting line-up against Leicester.

The captain only came off the bench for the final minutes of the match.

Rooney has been heavily criticised for his recent performances and Mourinho shuffled his pack, and it worked.

Mourinho, who has been critical of the 'Einsteins' in the press, said: "If I don't play (Marcus) Rashford you ask me why, if I don't play (Jesse) Lingard you ask me why, and you prefer always to ask why somebody is not playing.

"Sometimes when I read you I feel like I know nothing about football but there is one thing I know - the rules of the game.

"And I only can start with 11."