Manchester United interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy signs off with 3-0 win over Leicester City

MANCHESTER – Ruud van Nistelrooy marked the end of his sojourn as Manchester United’s interim manager with a 3-0 English Premier League win over Leicester City at Old Trafford on Nov 10.

The former Red Devils striker, who joined as one of Erik ten Hag’s assistants in the summer, took caretaker charge after his Dutch compatriot was sacked in the wake of a 2-1 loss to West Ham United in late October.

Van Nistelrooy’s four-match interim stint yielded three wins, against Leicester in the Premier League and League Cup and Paok in the Europa League, and a draw with Chelsea in the league.

The 48-year-old told the BBC of his stint: “I really enjoyed it, it’s been a short but amazing period. We are in an uncertain position but we tried to do our jobs and help the club which is important.

“There are a lot of feelings there, the way the fans supported me and the team always in difficult moments it was a special moment. To close down this block of games with good results and a good connection I can’t thank them enough. We will learn what the further plan is now.”

Highly rated Sporting Lisbon coach Ruben Amorim will take over from Nov 11, with van Nistelrooy hoping to stay on as an assistant to the Portuguese.

In their last match before the November international break, United captain Bruno Fernandes capped his 250th appearance for the club with the opener on 17 minutes.

He said: “It was a long time that I wasn’t scoring and now goals are coming in the last few games. Another clean sheet was important for us to bring back the fortress we had here...

“Ruud van Nistelrooy feels the club, he loves the club, he wants to bring joy to the players. He brought everyone with a smile to the games, he just wanted us to enjoy it. We wanted to say goodbye as a manager for him properly because he did good things for us.

“It’s a new era, a new manager means everything changes but what hasn’t changed is that this club has to get back to where it belongs.”

A quickly taken throw resulted in Amad Diallo playing a neat back-heel to Fernandes, who drove towards goal before unleashing a shot from outside the box past Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen.

Wilfred Ndidi then had Leicester’s best chance of the opening half around 10 minutes later when he latched onto Facundo Buonanotte’s ball over the top, but goalkeeper Andre Onana rushed out to close the angle and block the shot.

Fernandes should have doubled his tally seven minutes before the break but he could not connect cleanly with Noussair Mazraoui’s cross and the ball came off defender Victor Kristiansen for an own goal and a 2-0 half-time lead.

Before the match, van Nistelrooy said United have to find the net more often and his team duly obliged.

So often profligate this season, the Red Devils made the most of their chances against the Foxes.

Eight minutes from time, substitute Alejandro Garnacho made it 3-0 to seal the match and atone for a lost opportunity earlier, when he could not sort his feet out after receiving a good long pass forward.

Fellow substitute Christian Eriksen started the move with a no-look reverse pass which took several Leicester players out of the equation.

That allowed Fernandes to surge forward and feed Garnacho, who cut onto his favoured right foot and unleashed a shot from outside the box past Hermansen.

That assist means Fernandes has been directly involved in 100 goals in 170 Premier League appearances, needing just one more match to reach that feat than club legend Cristiano Ronaldo.

In other Premier League matches on Nov 10, Newcastle United came back from a goal down to beat high-flying Nottingham Forest 3-1 at the City Ground, while Ipswich Town finally got their first league win of the season at the 11th time of asking, beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 away.