Manchester United broke new ground in the Premier League on Sunday as they booked their spot in next season’s Champions League with a 2-0 victory over Leicester.
The Red Devils went into the weekend’s game knowing that a point at the King Power Stadium against their fellow top-four challengers would be enough to secure a place in Europe’s premier competition.
And they made sure of their participation in familiar fashion, with Bruno Fernandes firing them ahead after 70 minutes from the penalty spot after Anthony Martial was brought down.
Martial had come close to winning a spot-kick earlier in the second half, with James Justin timing his intervention perfectly with the Frenchman steaming in on goal.
But there was little doubt in the second call, with ex-United man Jonny Evans picking up a yellow card for the challenge, and Fernandes made no mistake in steering the ball past Kasper Schmeichel to open the scoring.
The Portugal international has been deadly from 12 yards since joining United in January, and he has enjoyed no shortage of practice to hone his talents.
Sunday’s decision from referee Martin Atkinson was United’s 14th penalty in the 2019-20 Premier League season, marking a new league record.
Of those kicks 10 have been converted, while four have either missed the target or been saved – a number only surpassed by rivals City, who have erred five times from the spot from 11 attempts.
Marcus Rashford netted six times from eight attempts from the spot earlier in the season, but since Fernandes arrived from Sporting he has been the chosen one – and for good reason.
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