Leicester smash five past United's defence in 5-3 win

Robin van Persie finally opened his 2014/2015 account

So maybe, just maybe, thumping QPR at home doesn't need that everything has been fixed at Old Trafford. Alex Johnson reports on a quite staggering game on Sunday afternoon.

Leicester City produced a stunning comeback from 3-1 down to beat ten man Manchester United 5-3 at the King Power Stadium.

Fresh from a 4-0 thumping of QPR and with his new team beginning to take shape, it looked like the world was all starting to fall into place for Louis Van Gaal. Juan Mata was dropped in favour of Radamel Falcao for the trip to battling Leicester who have made a bright start despite a tough opening set of fixtures.

For Nigel Pearson, well he would perhaps have been wishing this game had been a couple of weeks ago, before Messrs Di Maria and Falcao arrived, in the end he needn't have been concerned.

However, for the opening 17 minutes the Premier League saw exactly what the new devastating Manchester United front line is capable of. First, Falcao spun Ritchie De Laet on halfway and drove towards the corner of the box before clipping a delicious cross onto the head of Robin Van Persie for his first goal of the season on 13 minutes.

Four minutes later came the goal of the game and possibly the season as Angel Di Maria found the ball stuck under his feet on the edge of the penalty area, before delivering a delightful scoop over Kasper Schmeichel to silence the King Power.

Had United been able to maintain their two-goal lead for any length of time it may well have been another easy afternoon for the men in red, but their defensive woes returned to haunt them in a big way, instantly. Just 14 seconds of play separated Di Maria's strike and Leicester's first of the afternoon. Marcos Rojo missed his clearance and Jamie Vardy drilled the ball across for Leonardo Ulloa to dart in front of Rafael to power a header into the top corner.

To their credit, United continued to push forward and looked the more dangerous up to half time and the pattern continued in the opening 15 minutes after the break.

Within minutes of the restart Falcao gave a glimpse of what he is capable of with a lovely controlled volley that bounced back off the bar. What looked like a crucial third arrived on 57 minutes as Di Maria's scuffed shot was flicked home by Ander Herrera.

It was from that moment on that Louis Van Gaal's new era at Manchester United was torn apart by a rampant Leicester City.

They were given a helping hand by an awful piece of refereeing from Mark Clattenburg as he failed to award a free-kick after Rafael had been shoved off the ball by Jamie Vardy, before pointing to the spot when the striker fell despite minimal contact from the recovering Brazilian seconds later. David Nugent gave the Foxes lift off as he slammed his penalty down the middle and the King Power was alive.

The match as all square again two minutes later as Wayne Rooney and Chris Smalling failed to clear and the ball dropped perfectly for Esteban Cambiasso to drill past De Gea from the edge of the box. Even then the home fans would have been happy for the final whistle to blow but with a tiring Falcao and cramping Di Maria removed, the visitors began to look less potent.

What happened next is the reason this game will go down in Premier League folklore. With ten minutes to go Juan Mata was caught in possession and Vardy was given the freedom of the United half to steady himself before slotting home for 4-3.

United's horror afternoon was capped off when Vardy was too strong for Tyler Blackett and the recovering defender could only chop him down as he attempted to shoot. A straight red card for Blackett and a second penalty to Leicester which Ulloa duly stepped up to convert and send the home fans into delirium.

Louis Van Gaal's brave new era at Manchester United has some very rocky foundations it would seem and Leicester City did a spectacular job of highlighting them to the rest of the Premier League on an unbelievable afternoon in the East Midlands.