Manchester City have regained the England title. He secured the title three rounds before the end of the championship, without even entering the field. His closest pursuer, Manchester United, lost even the theoretical chances of catching up with the neighbors, having put up a second squad for the match with Leicester and lost to the rival 1: 2.
Manchester City have won their seventh league title and third in four years. There would have been a full-fledged uninterrupted streak, but Liverpool looked too good the previous season. This season the Liverpudlians have failed, while the Manchester club, on the contrary, have been great – no breakdowns, success on virtually all fronts (on May 29 he will play in the Champions League final with Chelsea). The intrigue associated with the outcome of the championship, in fact, has long been reduced to the question of when exactly Manchester City can be officially called the champion. It turned out that in order for the championship to gain absolute legitimacy, he would not even need to enter the field: everything would be done by the only pursuer who still had chances, albeit purely theoretical, to get the leader.
This was the very case when a loud news occasion was not the result of the match, but its announcement.
Presumably, many Manchester United fans, who, as usual, decided in advance to see who coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer put up for the game, at the sight of a club application, their eyes went up their forehead: God, what is it!
In this application were completely reservists, those who have to play a dozen or dozen matches per season. And also – 18-year-old Amad Diallo, who made his debut in the starting lineup of Manchester. And also – 19-year-old Anthony Elanga, who just made his debut: he has never played for Manchester United so far.
All this looked like some kind of demarche, but, of course, it was not a demarche. The International Football Union (FIFPro), in fact, has already noticed the monstrous calendar of Manchester United – four matches in a week – and noticed that playing in this mode is something beyond human capabilities (see the material on this page). So Solskjaer was forced to go on such a large-scale rotation two days after a difficult meeting with Aston Villa and two days before a difficult meeting with Liverpool. And, apparently, he inspired those who were worried about Leicester, hunting for a ticket to the Champions League, and at the same time, of course, those who were worried about Manchester City and, of course, knew perfectly well: if the neighbor loses, then that’s it, title in your pocket.
Anything could be expected from this amazing Manchester version. Failure – first of all. And for a while the match to breakdown really set up.
Leicester clearly demonstrated the superiority of experience over youth: youth tends to be wrong. Manchester players often made mistakes and paid for the falsity quickly.
Jüri Tielemans crossed from the right, and Luke Thomas succeeded in a gorgeous execution – since the summer – a shot to the far corner. A blow that was tempted to be called a harbinger of defeat.
But nothing like that. “Manchester United”, continuing to play unpretentious, did not lose courage and in a few minutes won back. Mason Greenwood (also a teenager, but a teenager who, nevertheless, has already entrenched itself so tightly in the base that it is difficult to imagine it without him) put Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to a standstill, shooting down into the far corner. No, everything was not so obvious here.
Manchester United held on with all their might. And Solskjaer decided that for the ending it was possible to strengthen your squad with key characters by sending Marcus Rashford and Edinson Cavani to the field. Substitutions he made before giving a corner “Leicester”, as if forgetting that other people’s standards are not the best moment for them. The rivals reminded him of this in a cruel way: none of the Manchester players reacted to the jump in the penalty area of Chaglar Syoyunju.
The defeat, apparently, will leave Manchester United with silver, with which in reality he has probably already come to terms. And Leicester’s victory seems to have brought them a ticket to the Champions League. He has at least temporarily moved up to third place, and the gap from fifth-placed West Ham is already huge – eight points.
36th round
Manchester United 1-2 Leicester
Greenwood, 15 – Thomas, 10; Shoyunju, 66.
The position of the teams. 1. Manchester City – 80 points (after 35 matches). 2. Manchester United – 70 (35). 3. Leicester – 66. 4. Chelsea – 64 (35). 5. West Ham “- 58 (35). 6. Liverpool – 57 (34).
Manchester City became the champion ahead of schedule.
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