United Clinch Top 4.
Manchester United 4-1 Chelsea Review
Manchester United will be playing in next season's UEFA Champions League following a statement 4-1 win over Chelsea at Old Trafford on Thursday evening. The goals from Casemiro, Anthony Martial, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford sealed the deal.
United had the perfect start when in the opening 5 minutes Casemiro replicated his heroics at Stamford Bridge as his thumping header gave United the lead. 25 minutes into the first half Antony was unable to stand on his feet after falling to the ground from an unfortunate challenge from Chalobah. The Brazilian had to be stretched off and was replaced by Marcus Rashford. Erik ten Hag said “you can tell it is serious”.
Despite Chelsea dominating possession in the first half they were unable to take advantage of United’s sloppiness on the ball. The missed chances from Connor Ghallagher, Kai Havertz and Mykhailo Mudryk came back to haunt them when just before half time Casemiro’s chipped ball into the box found Jadon Sancho, who squared it to Anthony Martial who tapped it into the net to give United a two goal advantage at the break.
Luke Shaw was replaced in the second half due to a back injury but Erik ten Hag said “to wait 24 hours”, before giving a verdict on how bad the injury is.
United Managed to create much better chances in the second half as early on Bruno Fernnandes hit the bar early on and Eriksen had an effort cleared off the line by the goalkeeper. While Chelsea were still able to hold much more of the ball, they were still unable to take advantage due to excellent defending by the whole United backline. Including some magnificent tackles by Casemiro and Aaron Wan -Bissaka. Goalkeeper David de Gea made some very good saves as well.
Man United were given the rare sight of a Penalty Kick as Bruno was brought down in the box. The skipper coolly gave the Reds a 3-0 lead. United felt the directness that Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho gave as the chances continued to flourish. Wesley Fofana gave a loose pass which Bruno pounced on, he squared it to Rashford who evaded the challenges by the Chelsea defenders to give United their 4th of the night,
Chelsea managed to get a consolation goal towards the end of the match through Joao Felix.
Overall, United managed to achieve their aim of qualifying for the Champions League. It was not the most elegant performance, but the Red Devils managed to be much more clinical then they have been in previous matches.
Erik ten Hag said “Our defensive organization was better in the second half, in the first half we had problems in between the lines”.
Erik also said he is impatient and wants “better players if we want to compete for the highest honours”.
Erik, “We want to be the best in the world”
Manchester United will play Fulham on Sunday 28th, since their Champions League qualification is secured they can afford to field a rotated squad and rest key players before the FA cup final against Manchester City at Wembley. Although Erik ten Hag may want to field a slightly stronger side to make sure they confidently secure a 3rd place finish ahead of Newcastle.