Premier League champions Leicester are just one point above the relegation zone after defeat at home by Manchester United left them still searching for a first league win in 2017.

A dour opening half came to life just before the break when the visitors scored twice in two minutes.

First, Henrikh Mkhitaryan latched onto Chris Smalling's flick-on and raced through on goal before beating Kasper Schmeichel with a clinical finish.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic then took advantage of terrible Leicester marking to side-foot home his 15th Premier League goal of the season.

Juan Mata ensured there was no way back for the hosts when he finished off a one-two with Mkhitaryan early in the second half.

Leicester never looked like scoring, with their only shot on target a tame Wilfred Ndidi strike just before half-time.

Manchester United remain in the hunt for a top-four finish. They are sixth, one point behind Liverpool and two behind fourth-placed Arsenal.

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• Relive Manchester United's win at Leicester

Could the champions really go down?

Jose Mourinho was in charge of Chelsea the last time he visited the King Power Stadium. That was in December 2015 and he was sacked the day after a defeat that strengthened Leicester's title charge.

This time it is Foxes boss Claudio Ranieri who is under pressure. Far from defending their title, they are very much in a relegation dogfight and went into Sunday's game looking to record their first league win since New Year's Eve.

A pacy attack of Ahmed Musa and Jamie Vardy promised much but ultimately offered little, the latter in particular a shadow of the striker who scored in 11 consecutive Premier League games last season.

The Foxes have now failed to score a league goal in five games this year, but of equal concern for Ranieri will have been his side's defending. Ibrahimovic was left unmarked to poke home Manchester United's second and then Wes Morgan played two players onside for the third.

Leicester have not won away all season in the league, so it is their home form that has kept them out of the drop zone so far - 18 of their 21 points have been collected at the King Power Stadium.

This defeat, though, was their third in six home games and Ranieri will need to get things back on track quickly if the Foxes are to avoid being the first reigning top-flight champions to be relegated since Manchester City in 1938.

Red Devils resolve goalscoring concerns?

Manchester United have been far too reliant on Ibrahimovic this season. The evergreen Swedish striker is the club's leading scorer with 10 more league goals than any other Manchester United player.

In an effort to relieve the Swede's burden, Mourinho started Marcus Rashford alongside him in a 4-4-2 formation.

It quickly became evident that Ibrahimovic was far more effective in a central role and after 20 minutes Mourinho reverted to 4-2-3-1 with Rashford, Mkhitaryan and Mata behind the former Paris St-Germain striker.

The change immediately improved the visitors' attacking strength as the pace of Mkhitaryan and Rashford, coupled with Mata's creativity, stretched Leicester's defence and left gaps for Manchester United to exploit, which they did to full effect.

In the end Leicester could not cope and although United will arguably face tougher defences this season, three different goalscorers and a convincing win will give Mourinho confidence his side can challenge for the top four, particularly with Liverpool and Arsenal's own challenge faltering.

Man of the match - Henrikh Mkhitaryan

What they said

Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri: "When we conceded the first goal we got down. I don't understand why. It's important to be strong until the end and never give up. But the confidence is not so high.

"Last season was terrific but we are Leicester and every time we have to fight.

"We are together. I am fully confident in my players and the players are confident in me."

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho: "It was really important for us. We lost two points in the last match at home and had three consecutive draws so we needed the points.

"I am happy. We don't have a league defeat since October and if we tried to transform the unlucky draws to victories, we would be in an amazing position."

Foxes collecting unwanted records - the stats

• Leicester City are the first Premier League team to fail to score in the first five matches of a calendar year and the first top-flight side since Spurs in 1986.
• They are the only side in the top-four English tiers to have failed to score in the league in 2017.
• Manchester United are unbeaten in their past 15 Premier League games; their longest run since March 2013 (18 games unbeaten).
• The Foxes are the second reigning Premier League champions to lose successive home league games by a three-goal margin (also Man Utd in 2013-14).
• There were just 88 seconds between Henrikh Mkhitaryan's and Zlatan Ibrahimovic's goals for Man Utd.
• Ibrahimovic has reached 15 Premier League goals for Man Utd in the fourth fastest number of games (23), following Van Nistelrooy (19) Yorke (20) and van Persie (21).
• Juan Mata has been involved in 86 Premier League goals since his debut (44 goals, 42 assists) - the highest goal involvement rate of any Premier League midfielder in that time.

Leicester's cup final?

After an FA Cup fourth-round replay against Derby at the King Power Stadium on Wednesday, Leicester have a potentially massive game in the Premier League on Sunday [kick-off 16:00 GMT]. They travel to Swansea, who are one place below the Foxes in 18th.

Manchester United, meanwhile, host Watford on Saturday [15:00] knowing three points could lift them into the top four.