Leicester City ease past second-string United side; strengthen Top Four bid

Categories: Football | Published by: AC

13/05/2021

Updated: 04/12/2022

EPL Matchday 36 of 38:

Manchester United 1 Leicester City 2 – Old Trafford – Tuesday, 11 May 2021

Leicester City secured their first victory since 1998 over Manchester United at Old Trafford when they beat a “B-string” Red Devils side 2-1 and paved the way for Manchester City to become Premier League champions for 2020-21.

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Ole Solksjaer made as many as 10 changes to the side that beat Aston Villa a couple of days earlier and handed Premier league debuts to Amad Diallo and Anthony Elanga.

The United coach had earlier confessed that he had no option other than to make mass changes given a packed schedule that involved as many as three games within the space of five days.

The weakened United line-up thus handed Leicester a golden opportunity to keep their Top Four finish effort intact after Friday's shock defeat by Newcastle.

Brendan Rodgers' Foxes, starting without some key players like James Maddison, Harvey Barnes and Jonny Evens made the perfect start in the 10th minute with Youri Tielemans sending a deep cross to Jamie Vardy who left the ball for 19-year-old Luke Thomas to finish with a stunning angular volley into the top corner.

But United's response was quick with Diallo outmuscling Thomas as he careened down the right channel, cut back inside and found Mason Greenwood who skipped past two defenders and unleashed a low measured shot that just beat Kasper Schmeichel to the far post.

1-1 in the 15th minute.

Leicester showed little sign of wrestling back control till the end of the first half but came back strong after the interval as Kelechi Iheanacho and Jamie Vardy were both thwarted by David De Gea.

Solskjaer introduced Marcus Rashford and Edinson Cavani on 66 minutes but the striking duo were immediately at the receiving end while defending a corner and allowing Caglar Soyuncu to swoop in and head the Foxes into the lead.

Bruno Fernandes came on with only 12 minutes of play remaining, but United were unable to find another equalizer as the Portuguese shot an effort wide in the dying stages.

With the Old Trafford win, Leicester now require four points from their final two games to secure a top-four finish, but before that they will attempt to win the FA Cup for the first time in their history when they face Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday in the final.

Tuesday night's win was made sweeter, given their miserable history against United with only 2 wins in 29 previous Premier League meetings and only one victory to show from their last 22 visits to Old Trafford.

The result also punctured the second-placed Red Devil's 14-match unbeaten run in the league since their shock home defeat to Sheffield United in January.

Manchester United starting XI in a 4-2-3-1 formation: De Gea (goal); Williams, Bailly, Tuanzebe, Telles; Van de Beek, Matic; Diallo (Fernandes 78), Mata, Elanga(Rashford 66); Greenwood (Cavani 66).

Substitutes unused: Henderson, Lindelof, Pogba, Shaw, Wan-Bissaka McTominay

Scorer: Greenwood 15

Leicester City starting XI in a 3-4-3 formation: Schmeichel (goal); Castagne, Soyuncu, Fofana; Thomas, Ndidi, Tielemans, Albrighton; Perez (Maddison 65), Iheanacho, Vardy (Choudhury 80).

Substitutes unused: Ward, Amartey, Pereira, Mendy, Praet, Fuchs, Maswanhis

Scorers: Thomas 10, Soyuncu 66