In the duel for the Champions League, Chelsea FC couldn’t get the ball in the net in their home game against Manchester United. In the end, one strong move was enough for the Red Devils to secure an important victory. Bruno Fernandes once again provided the decisive assist.
Chelsea coach Liam Rosenior made two changes for the Champions League clash compared to the 3-0 defeat to Manchester City: Enzo Fernandez and Delap started in place of Andrey Santos and Joao Pedros. At Manchester United, Michael Carrick made four changes after the 2-1 defeat to Leeds United: Heaven, Diogo Dalot, Mainoo and Mbeumo started for Amad, Ugarte, Lisandro Martinez and Yoro.
Chelsea have the first approaches
Chelsea were the slightly superior team in the early stages, but there were hardly any attempts on goal. In the twelfth minute, Estevao, who was forced off injured shortly afterwards, had a first good shot that went just wide. Man United waited for the Blues to make mistakes, but the visitors did not make good use of the few counter-attacking opportunities they had. Enzo Fernandez became increasingly conspicuous for Chelsea towards the end of the first half. First he stole the ball from Mazraoui and then narrowly missed (33′), then his next shot from the edge of the box led to a goal from Delap, but the flag went up (38′).
Shortly before the break, United were on the offensive again: Mbeumo found Bruno Fernandes on the right, who made a strong run and then played into the penalty area. Matheus Cunha converted with the first touch to make it 1:0 (43′). It was Bruno Fernandes’ 18th goal of the season. They went into the break with a narrow lead.
Delap and Fofana only hit the crossbar
In the second half, Chelsea’s determination to turn the game around was evident from the start. Delap had the first good opportunity to equalize in the 56th minute, but his header from a Pedro Neto cross hit the crossbar. Manchester restricted themselves to counter-attacking and once again became dangerous: a pass from Bruno Fernandes was dangerously deflected towards the Chelsea goal, but Sanchez was on hand (64′). And just three minutes later, the crossbar of the United goal shook again – this time Fofana failed with his header.
A fortunate win for the Red Devils
The Chelsea equalizer would have been deserved by now and the Blues did not give up. They kept up the pressure and created the next good chance with a remarkable long-range shot from Caicedo. The half-height effort flew a few centimetres past the post. That was indicative of the game, which Chelsea ultimately ended with 1.55 xGoals but no goals scored. Man United had an xG value of 0.29, but ran out lucky winners and extended their lead on sixth place (Chelsea) to ten points as a result.
The Blues continue their campaign on Tuesday (9pm) with an away game against Brighton. Manchester United do not face Brentford at home until Monday (April 27, 9pm).