Ruud van Nistelrooy admits Manchester United 'had some luck' in ...

Ruud van Nistelrooy admitted luck played a part in Manchester United’s 5-2 win over Leicester in the League Cup last 16.

Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes both grabbed a brace, while Alejandro Garnacho struck his fifth goal of the season in Van Nistelrooy’s first game in temporary charge of the club.

Fernandes’ first came via a deflection, the ball fell kindly for Casemiro’s close-range second, and Garnacho’s might have been ruled out for offside if VAR were in operation for this stage of the competition.

But the Brazilian’s opener was a stunner from range, and though Van Nistelrooy acknowledged the fortunate nature of the scoreline, he insisted his team deserved the luck they earned on Thursday evening.

"We scored some great goals,” Van Nistelrooy told Sky Sports. “The first one was an absolute beauty from Casemiro.

“I have to also say that we had some luck as well. Two posts and the ball comes to Casemiro's feet, then the deflected free-kick from Bruno [Fernandes], but it’s his first one for a long time.

"So five goals, but as I said before, the chances against West Ham and Fenerbahce, we created so many more and bigger chances, and we couldn't finish.

“All of a sudden, we had some luck on our side and that made it a great night.”

And the Dutchman had a special word for former Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro, who endured a difficult start to the season under Erik ten Hag.

"I was delighted for Casemiro,” said Van Nistelrooy. “The way he's been training and helping the team, the club, it's such an example.

“I'm delighted to have him around and going through difficult moments. He got a lot of criticism after the Liverpool game.

“And what a goal, top corner, amazing goal, amazing person and player. It’s fantastic to have him around.”

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“I’m here to help. I’m here to serve. I’m here to give my everything for the club in any capacity, with so many people here around me that want the best for the club and that will never change.”

In the other dugout, Steve Cooper was pleased with Leicester’s second-half performance and agreed with Van Nistelrooy that the scoreline was unrepresentative of the match.

"It's 5-2 in terms of the goals," said Cooper. "Casemiro's moment of brilliance, a terrible call from the linesman [for Garnacho’s goal], big mistakes from us, a deflection, but the scoreline doesn't reflect the game.

“If you look at the second half, we were dominant. United didn't get into our half and then we conceded."

Manchester United will travel to Tottenham Hotspur for the EFL Cup quarter-finals, played in the third week of December.

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