The visitors put up a valiant point and perhaps deserved a point, despite lacking the cutting edge in the final third. Gary Neville netted the only goal of the game in the 56th minute to hand all three points to United, a unusual goal for the England defender and only the 5th of his career on the club and domestic scene.

Sir Alex Ferguson raised a few eyebrows with his team selection, with David Bellion starting in midfield and Diego Forlan partnering Louis Saha up front in the absence of Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Roy Keane was expected to start, but warmed the bench throughout, with Ronaldo, Butt, Scholes and Bellion making up an attacking midfield quartet.

Leicester, desperate for points as they battle against relegation, started the game the brighter and could have taken the lead as early as the second minute when Roy Carroll's weak clearance fell straight to Muzzy Izzet. However, Izzet's reply was equally weak with his shot well, well wide.

United started poorly against Birmingham City on Saturday and again took a while to get going against the Foxes, with Leicester showing more creativity for most of the first-half although few chances of note were made for either side. Nicky Butt was on hand to hack away a floating cross from Jordan Stewart, Muzzy Izzet fired another chance wide and in the closing stages of the half, Marcus Bent scorned Leicester's best chance of the match by heading an Izzet free-kick inches wide.

At the other end, Louis Saha sent a shot wide on 15 minutes and Nicky Butt saw his long-range volley saved well by Ian Walker. The Red Devils looked frustrated at the lack of chances they were creating, and Micky Adams' side looked good for a point as the two sides went in at the interval.

Sir Alex Ferguson clearly gave his side, who had served up something of a below-par opening half display, a stern talking to at the break as United started brightly. Cristiano Ronaldo had been one of United's few bright sparks in the opening half, and continued his good form in the second period with the Portuguese youngster seeing his excellent effort headed behind by Scotsman Billy McKinlay. Paul Scholes also wasted an opportunity in the opening minutes of the second-half.

The deadlock was finally broken 11 minutes into the second-half, with United's patience finally ending 56 minutes of frustration against a battling Leicester City. Ronaldo made a darting run into the box before seeing his shot only partially cleared by the Leicester defence, and Gary Neville was on hand to bundle home a rare goal.

Leicester adopted a more attacking style of play after the goal, but the United back four looked comfortable throughout and there was clear evidence that the poor run of form the defence went through some weeks ago is well and truly over. The standard late rally was launched, but the visitors couldn't find the extra spice in the final third that they had lacked all game, and United held on for a crucial, ground-out victory.

The win wasn't exactly pretty, and questions will be raised over the manner of the victory, but at this stage of the season games like this against spirited sides can be expected. The three points sees us remain in third place, but we now sit only three points behind Chelsea with a game in hand over Claudio Ranieri's side, who have taken only one point from their last two outings. Arsenal are still 10 points out of reach, and even if United won all of their remaining games, a ninth Premiership crown would surely be a miracle for Sir Alex Ferguson.

As for Leicester, they put in an impressive, battling display but the Rothmans Football Yearbook will have this down as another defeat for the Foxes who are now in serious relegation trouble. Micky Adams is an excellent manager, and with three of our biggest rivals in the relegation scrap I hope he leads Leicester to safety, but with 6 points separating them from the safety zone it does look unlikely.

Full Time - Manchester United 1-0 Leicester City
Attendance - 67,749

Manchester United: Carroll, Gary Neville, Brown, Silvestre, O'Shea, Ronaldo, Butt, Scholes, Bellion, Forlan, Saha.
Substitutes: Howard, Djemba-Djemba, Solskjaer, Fletcher, Giggs.

Leicester: Walker, Thatcher, Dabizas, Heath, Scimeca, McKinlay, Izzet, Freund, Stewart, Bent, Dickov.
Substitutes: Nalis, Scowcroft, Guppy, Canero, Gillespie.

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