Manchester United's Paul Pogba scores from the penalty spot during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Leicester City on Friday at Old Trafford in Manchester, Britain. Photo by Peter Powell/EPA-EFE
Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Paul Pogba scored the first goal of the Premier League season in Manchester United's 2-1 win against Leicester City Friday in Manchester, England.
"I told the players we had very good periods, we had lots of glimpses of the football we wanted to play," United manager Jose Mourinho said, according to the team website. "Leicester were strong in a few periods of the game, but we coped with that as a team which is also an important thing. The team played as a team in these difficult moments."
Pogba's tally came in the third minute of the Red Devils' victory. Daniel Amartey had a hand ball in the Leicester City box after an Alexis Sanchez shot deflected off of Wes Morgan.
The French star stepped up to the penalty stripe and buried a shot into the upper right portion of the net, kicking the attempt over a diving Kasper Schmeichel.
United and Leicester City went into the half with the same score and played a tight second half before Luke Shaw gave the home team a 2-0 edge. Shaw scored via volley in the 83rd minute. The defender hovered at the top of the box on the left side of the pich before receiving a feed from Juan Mata.
He tapped the ball around a defender before giving chase near the end line. Shaw eventually reached the ball and stabbed at it with his left boot. He hit the volley in from of Schmeichel and sent it into the right side netting.
Jamie Vardy attempted to close the gap in stoppage time, but the tally came too late for a comeback. The Leicester City star got that goal by collecting a rebound off of the left post and pocketed a shot into the near post netting with his head past David de Gea.
"For me, it's the first one and that's the most important. It doesn't matter how I scored it, but I'm up and running now," Shaw said. "I don't care how it goes in. For me, for my career so far, it's probably the best feeling I've had. Honestly, the best feeling to date was today."
The Red Devils battle Brighton at 11 a.m. on Aug. 19 at Falmer Stadium in Brighton, England. Leicester City hosts Wolves at 10 a.m. on Aug. 18 at King Power Stadium in Leicester, England.
