Marcus Rashford continued his excellent run of scoring form with a brace in Manchester United's 3-0 win over Leicester City at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

The England international netted twice to take him onto 24 goals for the campaign, before Jadon Sancho got his name on the scoresheet to cap an impressive second-half performance from the Red Devils.

The result has moved Man United onto 49 points from 24 matches, which has kept them third in the table but has closed the gap on second-placed Manchester City to three points.

Leicester, meanwhile, remain in 14th position in the division, with Brendan Rodgers's side suffering their first loss in England's top flight since the middle of January.

Leicester had a golden chance to take the lead in the eighth minute when Kelechi Iheanacho found Harvey Barnes inside the Man United box, but David de Gea made an outstanding save to keep the score 0-0.

The visitors then again came close from the resulting corner, with Harry Souttar heading over the crossbar.

Leicester were full of it and had another opportunity in the 10th minute, with Iheanacho having a shot deflected just wide by Victor Lindelof before the Nigerian curled past the post in the next attack.

Tete flashed one past De Gea's goal in the 18th minute, with Man United struggling to gain control in midfield without the presence of Casemiro, who served the final match of his three-game suspension.

De Gea made another wonderful save to keep out a header from Iheanacho in the 21st minute, and his stops were crucial, as Man United made the breakthrough in the 25th minute through Rashford.

The Englishman beat the Leicester offside trap, racing onto a pass from Bruno Fernandes before smashing the ball into the bottom corner of the net to make it 23 goals for the campaign.

Leicester continued to threaten, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall placing one just wide of the Man United post in the 31st minute.

Diogo Dalot had a golden chance to send the home team two goals ahead in the 37th minute when Fernandes found the right-back with a brilliant cross, but he somehow missed the post from close range.

Just the one goal separated the two teams at the interval, but Leicester were extremely unfortunate to be behind, and the visitors came close again in the final stages of the first half, with James Maddison just missing the target from distance.

Lisandro Martinez had a brilliant chance to score a second for Man United in the 49th minute when he met a free kick from Luke Shaw, but his header crashed off the crossbar.

Fernandes then stung the palms of Danny Ward from distance, before the Leicester goalkeeper saved from Rashford, with the 20-time English champions making the stronger start to the second period.

Wout Weghorst hooked one over the Leicester crossbar in the 54th minute after a header from Fred, with Man United looking to score a second at Old Trafford.

Rashford then doubled Man United's lead in the 56th minute when he raced into the Leicester box and finished under Ward; the forward was flagged offside by the linesman, but a resulting VAR check showed that he was just level with the final defender.

Man United then scored their third in the 62nd minute, with Sancho on the scoresheet, combining with Fernandes before firing into the back of the net from close range.

Ward kept out Shaw's effort in the 63rd minute, before Sancho had two chances to score his second in the 69th minute, having his first effort blocked before volleying the rebound over the crossbar.

Weghorst then headed wide of the Leicester post in the 70th minute, with Man United passing up a number of chances in quick succession to score a fourth.

Weghorst was again denied by Ward in the 87th minute after excellent work from Sancho, with the Netherlands international being made to wait for his first Old Trafford goal.

Erik ten Hag's side have now won three of their four league matches since the 3-2 defeat at Arsenal, and they have moved to within five points of the table-topping Gunners.

Man United will now switch their attention back to the Europa League, as they prepare to welcome Barcelona to Old Trafford on Thursday for the second leg of their knockout round playoff fixture.

The Red Devils will then face Newcastle United in the EFL Cup final next Sunday before tackling West Ham United in the fifth round of the FA Cup on March 1, with the team not back in Premier League action until March 5 away to Liverpool.

Leicester, meanwhile, will continue their Premier League season at home to division leaders Arsenal next Saturday. body check tags ::