Score, outcome, and highlights from Man United's match against Chelsea in the Premier League as the Red Devils clinch a top-four berth

Score, outcome, and highlights from Man United’s match against Chelsea in the Premier League as the Red Devils clinch a top-four berth

Manchester United qualified for the Champions League next season with a 4-1 hammering of Chelsea.
With just a point needed to guarantee a top-four finish in the Premier League this season — and a spot in the group stages of Europe’s premier tournament in 2023/24 — United never looked back as Casemiro headed in the opening after only six minutes at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea has had a disappointing season, but they played well in the first half, controlling possession and generating one or two chances, the greatest of which was saved by Conor Gallagher.
However, soon before halftime, Frank Lampard’s inexperienced team fell down 2-0, with Anthony Martial tapping in Jadon Sancho’s ball, and the outcome appeared likely.
Bruno Fernandes, who had previously struck the crossbar, made it 3-0 from the spot before Marcus Rashford netted his 30th goal of the season from close range. Joao Felix scored a great consolation for the Blues, who are 12th in the standings and keen to put this season behind them.
Man United go all-out in appreciation to Ten Hag’s efforts.
For most of this season, and definitely in recent months, United has developed a habit of winning games by a smaller margin than they should. While the defence is generally solid — De Gea has already earned the Golden Glove award for the most clean sheets, with 17 and counting — Ten Hag has often been irritated by his team’s failure to win games.
Today, there was no such worry.
United finished the game with 5.14 predicted goals, the most of any club in a single Premier League encounter this season (according to Opta statistics). They should have scored at least two more goals than they did, and numerous potential attacks fell down even before a shot was tried, but this was still a good step forward in Ten Hag’s work.
It also meant that they wouldn’t be able to cling on to the point they required to finish in the top four. They surged over the finish line after a long and arduous race.
Man United’s celebrations are dampened by Antony’s injury.
The only significant drawback to United’s evening was Antony’s injury in the first half. Trevoh Chalobah’s challenge was legitimate — it wasn’t reckless at all — but it definitely harmed United’s Brazilian. Antony collapsed to the grass with his head in his hands after attempting to put weight on his right ankle, and was carried away on a stretcher.
It meant Rashford returned from illness and injury earlier than expected, and he celebrated with a well-taken goal — his 30th in all competitions this season, the most by any United player since Robin van Persie a decade ago — but losing Antony so close to the FA Cup final would be a huge disappointment for Ten Hag.
Man United is fully aware of Chelsea’s problems.
Former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink claimed on Sky Sports that there is “a big, big job to be done” after the Blues’ poorest season in Premier League history.
With one game remaining, they are only 12 points above the relegation zone and a whopping 27 points below the top four. They cannot finish in the top ten and can only receive a maximum of 46 points, both of which are record lows for the club in this tournament.
They had one of their better first-half displays here and could have levelled via Gallagher soon before Martial doubled United’s advantage, but their efforts after the break bordered on terrible at times.
The raucous United supporters in the stands may have been reminded of this time last year, when the Red Devils were going through the motions under an interim manager at the conclusion of a season in which they set records for all the wrong reasons.
There is skill in this Chelsea roster — as there should be given that it cost upwards of $700 million — but Mauricio Pochettino, if he is truly to be their next manager, has a monumental challenge in moulding it into a cohesive football club.

More in Sports: https://buzzing.today/sports/
Photo Credits: https://commons.wikimedia.org/