Ruben Amorim will quickly realise Man Utd fact after Ruud van Nistelrooy indicators off in type

Ruud van Nistelrooy signed off in style after finishing his caretaker shift with Manchester United on a high.

Van Nistelrooy will hand over the reins to Ruben Amorim this week, and wait to find out if he still has a role at Old Trafford. But he will leave behind a team unbeaten in his four games in charge, and with some momentum and goals behind them at last.

Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring inside 20 minutes with a delightful finish, to celebrate his 250th appearance in style. An own goal from Victor Kristiansen doubled United’s advantage, before substitute Alejandro Garnacho confirmed Leicester’s fifth league defeat of the season with a stunning strike in the closing minutes.

Van Nistelrooy had dropped Garnacho in favour of Amad Diallo, who scored twice in the midweek victory over POAK in the Europa League. The Dutchman also recalled centre backs Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs de Ligt.

Leicester, meanwhile, made three changes, with Jordan Ayew, James Justin and Boubakary Soumare all returning at the expense of the injured Jamie Vardy, plus Stephy Mavididi and Ricardo Pereira. A much-changed Leicester had shipped five goals in a League Cup thrashing on this ground less than a fortnight ago.

Steve Cooper would have been looking for a response, but it took United less than 17 minutes to go ahead. Fernandes took a back-heeled pass from Diallo, before looking up and curling a delightful strike into the bottom corner. It was his fourth goal of the season, and fourth in his last four games.

Some people reckon Amorim might not pick Fernandes, because of the system he prefers to play. But the incoming boss will soon realise he cannot afford not to pick him.

The visitors tried to hit back, but Wilfred Ndidi headed a free kick straight at Andre Onana. Genuine quality was thin on the ground. In fact one of the most notable incidents was when Harry Winks tore into team-mate Abdul Fatawu, after he’d tried to score from inside his own half.

Ndidi should have equalised when Facundo Buonanotte’s pass sent him clean through, but his control let him down and Onana was able to snuff out the danger. It was a great chance, but Leicester’s problem was it fell to someone who had scored just 15 goals in almost 300 appearances.

Leicester were denied what looked like a penalty when Noussair Mazraoui tripped Buonanotte from behind. United needed a second goal for comfort.

And it arrived before half time when the hapless Kristiansen put the finishing touches to Mazraoui’s cross, after Fernandes had made a hash of his attempted header. And the defensive mistake would prove fatal to Leicester’s chances of getting back into the contest.

Jordan Ayew came close to pulling one back with a powerful shot, which Onana tipped wide. But United completed the routine win when Garnacho curled a superb effort into the top corner in the closing stages.

Yet the truth is this game was about as appealing as the Manchester weather. And while Van Nistelrooy has improved United’s results since replacing Erik ten Hag last month, there is still a huge job waiting for Amorim.

Because it says everything about United’s season that this triumph lifted them to the giddy heights of 13th in the table. Which explains why Amorim is heading to Manchester in the first place.