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Man United 4-1 Chelsea: Ten Hag’s Reds seal UCL qualification as Blues hit for four

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(Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)

Chelsea suffered a 4-1 defeat against Manchester United on Thursday night in the Premier League at Old Trafford.

Frank Lampard’s side played their second game of the week in Manchester and made it two losses on the bounce with defeat against Erik ten Hag’s team.

It did not take long at all for the hosts to find the advantage, just six minutes into proceedings a Christian Eriksen free-kick picked out the head of Casemiro who netted his second goal of the season against the Blues.

Chelsea did manage to respond, chances fell the way of Mykhailo Mudryk, Kai Havertz and Conor Gallagher, but they failed to level the scoring.

Before the half-time whistle sounded, the Blues were punished further, Manchester United doubled their lead after Jadon Sancho squared to the ball to Anthony Martial who tapped home from close range.

In the second 45, it was United who looked the more dangerous, after hitting the bar in the opening moments of the second half, Bruno Fernandes eventually got his goal from the penalty spot after Wesley Fofana had tripped him in the box.

Somehow things turned even bleaker for the Blues, a sloppy pass from Fofana gifted the hosts possession and Marcus Rashford scored on the second attempt to make it four.

Substitute Joao Felix did manage to score a consolation goal for the visitors with a splendid solo effort.

Lampard opted to name Chelsea’s youngest ever starting XI in the Premier League against Manchester United, Carney Chukwuemeka, Mudryk and Noni Madueke were the three changes to the side that lost 1-0 on Sunday against Manchester City.

The first opening of the game fell the way of the visitors, Lewis Hall was left in acres of space down the left-hand side, his cross found Mudryk in the middle, but the Ukrainian was unable to get a clean connection with his strike and saw the ball bobble out of play.

That missed chance would soon be one the west London side would regret, as just minutes later a thumping header from Casemiro from an Eriksen delivery fired the Red Devils into the lead.

Chelsea looked to respond on the counter, once again the Blues managed to get in behind the United defence, but another glorious chance was wasted when Havertz overhit a cutback pass to Conor Gallagher.

As the first half progressed, there was a lengthy stop in play, a challenge from Trevoh Chalobah brought down Antony which saw the Brazilian forced off and replaced by Marcus Rashford.

Following the delay, the visitors continued to create chances, once again Hall delivered a wonderful cross but this time the opportunity was missed by Havertz, who saw his header fly wide of the post.

The theme continued throughout the half, Gallagher was next up to miss a clear cut chance, after some delightful build-up play, Enzo Fernandez sent him in behind but he scuffed his effort wide.

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Chelsea could have easily been heading into the half-time break in the lead, but instead, United were able to double their lead before the interval, Sancho was played through and he squared to Martial who rolled the ball into an empty net.

As the second half began, the hosts came out quickly, a nicely worked move saw Bruno Fernandes power a strike off of the crossbar. This was followed by two more quick chances for United, after a cut-back from Tyrell Malacia, Eriksen flicked the ball towards goal but Kepa Arrizabalaga was able to claw it away and then Casemiro had an effort from the edge of the area sail wide.

Chelsea then responded by creating some openings of their own, David De Gea did well to deal with shots on goal from Hall, Mudryk and Havertz.

In the 63rd minute, the Blues made their first substitutions of the contest, Mudryk and Havertz came off for Christian Pulisic and Joao Felix.

The night for the west London side got worse when Fofana tripped Fernandes in the penalty area, the Portuguese star then stepped and coolly placed his penalty into the bottom corner.

Five minutes later, the visiting players were once again trudging their way back to their positions from kick-off as United had made it 4-0. This time it was substitute Rashford who capitalised on another Fofana mistake to inflict more misery on the Blues.

Chelsea did manage to net a very late consolation goal, Felix scored a splendid goal after coming off the bench.

Now there’s just one game to go against Newcastle United until Chelsea’s miserable season concludes. Almost there.

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