BY David Walsh ( The Times )

THOSE who worry about the Premiership's uneven standards would have found this a disturbing afternoon at Filbert Street. Manchester United won with almost contemptuous ease. They could have scored eight or nine, and this against one of the more formidable members of the League's underclass.

But the real story comes with the backdrop. United intended playing Nicky Butt in midfield, but an hour before the game he felt unwell, so Alex Ferguson plucked David Beckham from his list of substitutes and dropped him into Butt's place. Then, concerned at how Wes Brown had coped with Steve Guppy, Ferguson moved Phil Neville off the bench into Brown's place.

Martin O'Neill would swing for that kind of choice. Alas, he does not have it. Without Matt Elliott, Frank Sinclair, Andy Impey and Emile Heskey, Leicester City were sorely depleted. The wonder was that they managed to make it such a good match for an hour, but once they had to chase the game, the home team left themselves open to the speed and finishing of Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke.

Yorke got three, Cole two, and the final goal came from Jaap Stam, who drifted forward late in the match and waited at the far post for Beckham to loop a left-footed cross in his direction. As the ball dropped, Stam met it with a casually side-footed volley; a crushing defeat had been finished with a touch of humiliation.

O'Neill's team had played well in the first half, which ended level at 1-1. But once they went 2-1 down four minutes into the second half, Leicester disintegrated. This was not a great surprise, for a goal down, they had to commit men forward and, as soon as they did that, United's quicker and more creative players had the space to make mischief.

Against the gallant but far from nimble Steve Walsh and Gerry Taggart, Cole and Yorke were devastating. They really have struck up a fine partnership; Yorke's clever approach play complementing Cole's direct style.

O'Neill was particularly impressed by Cole and went out of his way to pay his respects: "He has been a very good player for a long time. Anybody who tells me that Andy Cole is not a top-class finisher needs their head examined." Glenn Hoddle may feel O'Neill was offering unsolicited advice, and the England coach would probably be right.

What yesterday's performance tells us about United's chances this season is difficult to say. While generous in his praise of his strikers, Ferguson was restrained in his comments about the team performance - an indifferent first half followed by a second of much more urgency. But even in that second half, United's defence allowed Leicester a lot of chances, and the two goals that the home team scored could easily have been four.

The match began as it would end, Cole's dummy setting up Yorke at the far post, although for a man who would eventually score three, the Trinidadian took a long time to put away that first chance. The goal had been preceded by an excellent interception and pass by Henning Berg and a neat cross by Denis Irwin. It arrived after 10 minutes and even the most committed among Leicester's faithful would have anticipated the worst.

Their fears were eventually realised, but not before Leicester clawed their way back into the game. Neil Lennon snapped at Roy Keane's heels in the midfield, Guppy and Muzzy Izzet began to play, and United seemed docile enough to allow the match become a contest. After 35 minutes, Theo Zagorakis scored a smashing goal, and for a few minutes anything seemed possible.

The goal was a gem. Zagorakis picked up the ball 25 or 30 yards out, and with Keane standing formidably in his way, there did not seem much chance. But the Greek midfielder stepped neatly inside the United captain and rifled a bullet that ricocheted off the roof of the net before Peter Schmeichel realised he had a shot to save.

That energised Leicester's fans and the stadium buzzed with new intent. Momentarily United seemed non-plussed, and Pontus Kaamark really should have done better when Guppy's left-wing cross beat everybody and hopped up invitingly for him. But Kaamark's shot flew yards over the bar. It might have been a different match had that gone in.

United's players would certainly have encountered the sharp side of Ferguson's character during the interval. They went about their work in the second half with renewed enthusiasm, and once Cole restored their lead, it was a cruise. Leicester, in a sense, were victims of their own ambition. They charged forward and left their big central defenders alone with Cole and Yorke. For that, they will not be thanked.

Cole got the third after Walsh had got too close to Yorke and was roasted. Once Yorke moved clear of his marker, he pushed it into Cole's path and the finish was typical, the quick strike giving Kasey Keller little chance. Then Yorke took advantage of a slip by Keller to steer in the fourth from an acute angle, and even though Walsh pulled a goal back for Leicester, the tide was running with United.

Yorke got the fifth after Cole's booming left-foot shot had thundered back off the crossbar, and then it was Stam turning five to six. What had been a thoroughly miserable day for Leicester ended with a touch of humiliation. O'Neill said he was not bothered by the fifth and sixth goals; the match was lost by then. "We have no depth," he said afterwards. "Before the game I was hoping to ask Alex for a few of his subs."

The problem with asking Alex for a few subs is that you would need serious amounts of money. Yesterday Johnsen, Scholes, Solskjaer and Phil Neville were on that United bench - probably worth about £20m between them.

Leicester have lots of things. But £20m? Afraid not. The battle, however unfair, goes on.

Leicester: Keller, Ullathorne, Walsh, Taggart, Kaamark (Campbell 71), Zagorakis, Lennon, Izzet, Guppy, Cottee (Fenton 89), Wilson (Parker 71). Unused: Arphexad, Oakes.
Booked: Walsh, Lennon.
Goals: Zagorakis 35, Walsh 73.

Man Utd: Schmeichel, Brown (Neville 45), Stam, Berg, Irwin, Blomqvist, Beckham, Keane, Giggs, Cole, Yorke. Unused: Van Der Gouw, Johnsen, Scholes, Solskjaer.
Booked: Keane, Blomqvist.
Goals: Yorke 10, Cole 49, 61, Yorke 63, 84, Stam 90.

Referee: S Dunn (Bristol).

Attendance: 22,091.