Mixed emotions for Mason against Leicester

The Academy graduate scored his fifth goal of the season and a first since the third-round victory over Liverpool at Old Trafford on 24 January, with a neat finish from Paul Pogba’s assist. 

Greenwood was a lively presence throughout the second half as United attempted to secure a win, and our progression through to the semi-finals against Southampton, but unfortunately goals from Youri Tielemans and Kelechi Iheanacho (two) inflicted our first defeat in 15 matches.

Using his official Instagram account after the match, Mason posted an image of the game with this caption: “A tough one to take, we must push harder. Pleased to be back on the scoresheet.”

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was naturally disappointed by the performance and result at the King Power Stadium, but reserved words of praise for Greenwood and his goal against Kasper Schmeichel.

“A top goal and [it was] great to see Mason having that instinct again,” said the boss, as he looked at a positive. “It was a good finish and good by Paul, Donny creates the goal without even touching it. 

“It was clever and something to build on. There were positive moments as well and it’s great to see Paul and Donny back on the pitch and Edi back and Anto completed 90 minutes. It means a lot for the next two months.”

Statman Dave focused on Greenwood during his post-match analysis and highlighted the youngster's encouraging form.

“One man who has been really good in recent weeks is Mason Greenwood and he grabbed a really deserved goal,” said the data expert on MUTV. “He played on the right-hand side from the start and moved centrally towards the end of the game to try and grab another goal. But I think his performances in recent weeks have been excellent. He was good against West Ham, hit both posts, but today he was rewarded with a goal.

“In terms of his stats for the evening, he completed 85 per cent of his passes, had 43 touches, five ball recoveries, three successful dribbles and hit three out of four long passes - which is becoming a little bit of a trait for Mason, switching the play from that right-hand side to the left with a really good pass, mainly over to Luke Shaw when United were chasing the game. 

“He also created two chances, which was the joint most of any player on the pitch, and of course there was one shot and he took his goal really well. Greenwood has been involved in five goals in domestic cup competitions this season and that is the joint most of any Manchester United player, with three goals and two assists.”

Greenwood’s attention will now turn to England’s Under-21s and their European Championship group games against Switzerland on Thursday, Portugal on Sunday and Croatia next Wednesday.