Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal admitted his team “gave the game away” as they were beaten 5-3 at Leicester after a stunning second-half collapse which saw them ship four goals.
The game looked over when United led 3-1 with just over 30 minutes to go but newly-promoted Leicester hit back in incredible and unlikely fashion to record a famous victory.
“We have the game in our pocket and we gave it away,” said Van Gaal, who spent STG200 million ($A365 million) on new players in the summer.
“Not because of Leicester; we gave it away and I don’t like that.”
United led 2-0 after a Robin van Persie header and a brilliant chip from Angel Di Maria.
And though Leonardo Ulloa pulled one back, United seemed to have wrapped things up when Ander Herrera flicked in 12 minutes into the second half to make it 3-1.
But a penalty from David Nugent – a controversial decision by referee Mark Clattenburg given against Rafael – cut the deficit and an Esteban Cambiasso strike brought Leicester level before Jamie Vardy put them in front.
Yet another defensive error brought about the fifth goal as United defender Tyler Beckett was sent off for fouling Vardy in the area and Ulloa stepped up to score his second.
The result lifted Leichester up to sixth, six places and three points ahead of United.
“We started well and scored fantastic goals,” Van Gaal said. “In the second half, we scored another goal but you have to win the game and we didn’t do that. We didn’t keep ball possession in the right way.
Van Gaal said Rafael had taken an unnecessary risk by making a challenge on Vardy.
“You don’t have to do that as a player,” he said. “You know you are in the penalty area and you allow the referee to whistle if you make a challenge.
“I don’t know if it is a penalty but we have to look at ourselves because we made such big errors as a team.”
Vardy, who was playing non-league football just three seasons ago, described it as the best day of his career, while Leicester manager Nigel Pearson said his side deserved their win.
“Back to back wins in the Premier League is never easy, especially for a promoted side,” he said.
“To back up the Stoke win against one of the big forces in English football is very satisfying.
“When you add to that coming from 3-1 down, it is a testament to the quality, belief and spirit amongst us.
“All in all we got things right tactically. We were always in the game because we matched them up…in the end we were full value for it.”
In another early kick-off, West Bromwich Albion caused a shock with a 1-0 win at Tottenham, with James Morrison’s second-half goal lifting them off the bottom of the table.
Morrison headed the winner 16 minutes from time with a rare header and admitted he had not been thinking of scoring when the corner was played in.
“My job was to block a marker on the corner but I found myself free and managed to finish it,” he said.
“We deserved the win. The whole team worked really well. We have come under a lot of stick but we showed what qualities we have today.”
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino said he was “disappointed and angry”.
“We played very, very slow,” he said. “We need to be more alive and play quick. We didn’t create too much. We made a big mistake on the set-piece.”
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