Manchester United 4-1 Chelsea: Manchester United will play in the Champions League again next season. It was by no means convincing against Chelsea, certainly not before half-time, but the points remained at Old Trafford. Now the billion dollar ball awaits Erik ten Hag and his players.
Ten Hag secures CL ticket on a painful evening for Chelsea
The very young Chelsea quickly came to a giant opportunity in an intense opening phase. Mykhailo Mudryk got the ball about seven meters in free position, but the very expensive Ukrainian hit the ball completely wrong. It was right on the other side. A free kick from Christian Eriksen found Casemiro and the Brazilian headed in, just short of being offside.
But was the home team good? No, especially in the back, a lot went wrong at United, which needed a point for a place in the Champions League. Conor Gallagher was the next blue shirt to miss a big chance, and Kai Havertz should have finished better too. The German was the second, after Mudryk, who did not properly complete the excellent preparatory work of the young youth player Lewis Hall. Not everything went well for Ten Hag: he saw Antony injured in an innocent duel. The Brazilian had a lot of trouble with his ankle and left the field in tears.
After Gallagher missed a second big chance, United struck. A wonderful ball from Casemiro found between two defenders by Anthony Martial, who had the ball in front of him. A piece of top quality the first half had not seen before.
Second half
After the break, it was the home team with the first chance: Bruno Fernandes shot from close range on the crossbar. A second half unfolded in which Chelsea had plenty of possession but created little danger.
Wesley Fofana destroyed all good intentions with a very clumsy foul on Fernandes in the box. The midfielder went theatrically to the grass, but Stuart Attwell could not help but give a penalty kick. Fernandes used it himself, after which Marcus Rashford punished another mistake – in this case it is better to speak of a blunder – by Fofana to make it 4-0. João Félix saved the honor in the last minute with a rare goal against Ten Hag at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils climb over Newcastle United to third place and, more importantly, can no longer be overtaken by number five Liverpool. Sunday’s game against Fulham no longer has any sporting interests, a week later the cup final against Manchester City awaits. The red part of the city will hope that Antony will be fit again. For Frank Lampard’s team, this horror season has come to an end after a visit from Newcastle United, also next Sunday. The superpower from west London, despite all the astronomical investments, is in an embarrassing twelfth place in the standings.
