All eyes were on Old Trafford on Wednesday evening as Manchester United hosted their bitter rivals City in a crucial derby clash.
Manchester City hadn't dropped a point in the Premier League since late January and looked to continue that scintillating form to reclaim the league top spot. Liverpool fans will have also kept tabs on the match, hoping for a City loss to boost their chances of clinching the 2018-19 title. United had their own victory motivation as a win would draw them level on points with Chelsea, and back in contention for a Champions League qualifying spot.
Solskjaer decided that five changes were needed from an embarrassing defeat away to Everton if they wanted to challenge a dangerous City side, from which Kevin de Bruyne was missing, perhaps to United's relief.
Both teams started firing on all cylinders with the likes of Rashford and Lingard causing trouble through the middle for City. The visiting defence adopted an interesting approach as Kompany body checked Rashford for a yellow card before Ederson later took his legs out from under him.
The subject of the defence was touched upon in the pre-match discussions, with Solskjaer somewhat neglecting his own side's record when slamming that of his rivals.
Despite their slightly questionable defensive approach, City were convincing up front with Sterling and Bernardo Silva looking threatening early on. Andreas Pereira decided to take a leaf out of City's book and immobilise Zinchenko with a needless brutal challenge.
In any case, both sides showcased their attacking prowess throughout the first-half with the likes of Young and Pogba linking up to threaten the City box and Aguero and Sterling doing the same at the other end. Approaching half-time it was anyone's game with City enjoying most of the possession but United a force to be reckoned with on the counter-attack.
Just minutes before half-time, Sterling produced City's clearest chance of the first-half, having danced his way through the defence, leaving just David de Gea between himself and a 0-1 lead. The goalkeeper did well to hang onto Sterling's shot which would have taken the lead had it been struck anywhere else.
Despite raised eyebrows upon learning Solskjaer's chosen line-up, United certainly gave the Premier League champions a run for their money at home during the first-half. City are never too far away from a goal, and were coping just fine without the likes of Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus or Kevin de Bruyne on the pitch.
Dressing room entertainment might have provided Manchester United with a morale boost concerning their pursuit of a top-four finish, as Wolves had netted three times against Arsenal whose away record continued to worsen.
Leroy Sane was introduced swiftly after the restart for City and was immediately effective for his side. He found pockets of space for the visitors that hadn't been explored in the first-half and breathed some life into City after the break.
Bernardo Silva was on the same wavelength and dribbled his way through the defence, immobilising Luke Shaw before releasing a shot which beat De Gea comfortably from a tight angle. The United keeper should have done better in all honesty.
Leroy Sane, again, for City linked up beautifully with Aguero to set the Argentine up for a menacing shot which was denied by the post. Given his recent form, De Gea was lucky that the post came to his aid.
United had a huge chance for an equaliser just seconds later but Lingard took his eye off the cross and completely missed the ball. Ederson was scrambling and had Lingard's shot been anywhere on target, the hosts would have been right back in it.
Perhaps a drastic personnel change might have suited United but they would have to opt for their tactics. That wouldn't bother City who doubled their lead with super-sub Sane who fired the ball past David de Gea who was beaten at his near post for the second time. Sterling deserved credit for his pinpoint perfect ball to find Sane across the pitch.
Solskjaer's head, along with those of a whole stadium of fans, dropped as United's chances of a strong close to the season drifted further and further into the abyss.
Enter Romelu Lukaku, with strength and brutality who spearheaded a handful of chances for United approaching the 75 minute mark, none of which posed any significant threat to Ederson for City.
Solskjaer's side looked out of ideas as Alex Ferguson could only watch as a side he saw such success with, were really struggled at home. Perhaps Alexis Sanchez and Anthony Martial would be the solution.
That was not to be and Manchester City cruised through added time to a convincing victory which would take them back to the top of the Premier League standings. Liverpool, on 88 points, now lie in second and face Huddersfield on Friday. A game in which they will look to pick up maximum points.