Tuesday, May 11, 2021 at 8:50 PM• Daniel Cabot Kerkdijk • Last update: 20:53

Manchester City are the new champions of England after a defeat by Manchester United. Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team did not have to lose to Leicester City on Tuesday evening to allow the league title to go to the city rivals, but the visitors left Old Trafford with a 1-2 victory. With three match days to go, Manchester City can no longer be traced by Manchester United: eighty to seventy points.

Leicester City started well and took the lead at Old Trafford after ten minutes. The team of manager Brendan Rodgers did that in a wonderful way: after a good action by Youri Tielemans on the right, a ditto cross followed towards the far post, where Luke Thomas aimed the ball perfectly in the top right corner. David de Gea had no chance on the young left back’s bet: 0-1. Manchester United only needed five minutes to clear the gap.

Thomas did not go into a full-power duel with Amad Diallo, after which Mason Greenwood got the ball and after an individual action he aimed very precisely low in the left corner: 1-1. Remarkable: it had not happened in the Premier League since May 2006 (!) That two teenagers, Diallo and Greenwood, scored a goal. In the remaining half hour, the teams of Solskjaer and Rodgers struggled to make the game and in particular the decline of the visitors towards the break was visible.

De Gea was not tested until the break after Thomas’ direct hit. However, Leicester City made a better impression after the break and began to put pressure on Manchester United. After an hour of play, De Gea prevented Kelechi Iheanacho from scoring with a good save, but a few minutes later the 1-2 fell. After a corner from Marc Albrighton, Çaglar Söyüncü escaped the attention of Marcus Rashford, who had just come in, and headed the ball hard behind De Gea: 1-2.

For Manchester City it is the seventh time that it can call itself national champion. This previously happened in 1937, 1968, 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2019.