Chelsea lose to Man Utd in major blow to Champions League hopes
Chelsea 0
Man Utd 1Cunha (43′)
Chelsea’s problems continued with a defeat by Manchester United that leaves them with little hope of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
Matheus Cunha’s goal on the stroke of half-time was enough to separate the two teams, although the Blues hit the woodwork twice after the break as they chased an equaliser.
The result means Chelsea sit four points adrift from the top five, and it also extends Liam Rosenior’s losing streak in the Premier League to four games.
Much was made of the makeshift centre-back pairing of Ayden Heaven and Noussair Mazraoui that United were forced to line up with, but it was the hosts who had early injury issues of their own.
The Blues lost Estevao early, when he went down with an apparent hamstring injury, having pulled up when breaking through on goal.
His replacement, Alejandro Garnacho, was quickly at the heart of the action as Chelsea pushed for an opener. He delivered a dangerous cross from the right side to cap a flurry of chances late in the first half, which Liam Delap came close to heading in.
The striker had the ball in the back of the net moments before that big chance, when he finished from an offside position.
But it was United who struck against the run of play, when Bruno Fernandes broke down the right side and pulled the ball back for Cunha, who beat keeper Robert Sanchez with both power and placement.
Wesley Fofana was off the pitch receiving treatment when the visitors scored, after colliding with his goalkeeper a few minutes earlier.
Chelsea were on the front foot for much of the second half and hit the bar twice in the space of 10 minutes.
Delap first headed off the woodwork from a Pedro Neto cross, and Fofana then hit the same spot in the 66th minute, as he came agonisingly close to levelling.
United remained dangerous on the counter-attack and had chances to extend their lead, but lacked real end product in the closing stages of the game.
Chelsea’s attacking efforts fizzled out late on, too, and they were booed off at full-time by a crowd that had made their feelings clear on the club’s ownership, both pre-match and during the game.
Chelsea: Sanchez; Gusto (Acheampong 83), Fofana (Chalobah 83), Hato, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez (Lavia 87); Neto, Palmer, Estevao (Garnacho 16); Delap.
Subs not used: Sharman-Lowe, Tosin, Santos, Essugo, Guiu.
