London, April 2 (BNA): Without Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United suffered another setback in their attempt to secure qualification for the Champions League next season with a 1-1 draw with Leicester at home in the English Premier League on Saturday.
Ronaldo, who helped Portugal qualify for the World Cup on Tuesday, missed the match at Old Trafford with flu-like symptoms and United missed their top scorer, the Associated Press reported.
United ended up needing a rare goal from Fred to get a point, and the defensive midfielder scored in the 66th minute – three minutes after Kelechi Iheanacho broke the scoring for Leicester with a header.
United appear increasingly unlikely to salvage a Champions League place from the wreckage of a season in which the team is already knocked out of every cup competition.
United are sixth in the standings, four points behind fourth-placed Arsenal, who are last in qualifying for the Champions League. Arsenal have two matches postponed, the first of which comes at Crystal Palace on Monday.
Leicester, in ninth place, have another European competition on their mind – the third tier of the European Conference League, where the team has advanced to the quarter-finals and will play PSV Eindhoven on Thursday.
The league may not be the priority but Brendan Rodgers still has a strong squad at Old Trafford and Leicester that has caused a lot of problems for United.
Iheanacho’s goal was a great team effort, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall recovered the ball with a fine tackle, James Madison crossed with his left foot, and Iheanacho headed past David de Gea.
United’s response was immediate, as Fred shocked the house with a rebound after Kasper Schmeichel parried a Bruno Fernandes shot.
Later, Madison scored a goal that was overruled by the VAR for a previous foul by Iheanacho, an incident about which Rodgers appeared to complain to full-time officials.
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