Man Utd snare Foxes

Ruud van Nistelrooy powers home United's opening goal

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Man Utd 2-0 Leicester

Fabien Barthez indulged in some Manchester United mind games as Leicester were beaten 2-0 at Old Trafford.

Ruud van Nistelrooy scored his ninth of the season and Dwight Yorke netted his first goal since April as United moved up the Premiership.

But it was their keeper, whose eccentricities have cost his side dear in recent games, who once again played a pivotal role in the result.

At least today we looked like we knew what we were doing and we didn't look like a relegation side

Leicester boss Dave Bassett

His mind games with Muzzy Izzet saw the Leicester midfielder miss a crucial first-half penalty.

Izzet could have levelled the scores just seconds after United had taken the lead through Van Nistelrooy's header from a sweetly-struck David Beckham cross.

But the miss proved crucial and United went on wrap up a comfortable victory.

Barthez looked to be having one of his oddball days when he nearly presented Leicester striker Adi Akinbiyi with an open goal in the first minute of the match.

'Unsporting behaviour'

But the Leicester striker could not control the ball.

Twenty minutes later, Barthez was back in the spotlight when Laurent Blanc brought down Trevor Benjamin in the box.

But as Izzet ran up to strike the ball, Barthez was busy cleaning mud off his boots on the goalpost.

Izzet had the ball in the back of the net, but referee Andy D'Urso ordered it to be re-taken.

Sinclair is beaten to the ball by Yorke

This time Barthez was ready - and guessing correctly he managed to palm the ball onto the post where it rebounded clear.

The visiting fans were incensed at what they perceived as unsporting behaviour from the United keeper.

Leicester manager Dave Bassett opted to make a change at half-time, giving new £400,000 signing Alan Rogers his debut at left-back.

But the defensive switch backfired, and Yorke extended the lead within five minutes of the restart when he placed Gary Neville's cross well beyond Ian Walker.

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Man Utd: Barthez, Gary Neville, Brown, Blanc, Irwin, Beckham, Keane, Scholes, Giggs, van Nistelrooy, Yorke. Subs: Carroll, Silvestre, Solskjaer, Fortune, Butt.

Leicester: Walker, Stewart, Sinclair, Elliott, Davidson, Marshall, Izzet, Wise, Impey, Benjamin, Akinbiyi. Subs: Royce, Jones, Scowcroft, Rogers, Heath.

Referee: A D'Urso (Billericay).