Manchester United 4-1 Chelsea: Reds secure top four finish

Manchester United beat Chelsea 4-1 at Old Trafford to secure Champions League football for next season. After dominating the match throughout the first few minutes, United were rewarded for their dominance with a Casemiro header, putting them up 1-0. Chelsea responded well to going down by dominating possession and creating countless chances for their strikers who just couldn’t find the back of the net. Mykhaylo Mudryk, Kai Havertz and Connor Gallagher had the best chances for Chelsea in the first half but could not score, an ongoing struggle for the Blues all season. Right before the break, Jadon Sancho was through and played the ball across the penalty area for Anthony Martial to pass home into the open net giving the Red Devils a two-goal cushion heading into half-time.

United were a different team in the second half. They attacked Chelsea's back four relentlessly and the defenders struggled. Chelsea still created chances in the second half but couldn’t create big goal-scoring opportunities. During the last 20 minutes of the game, Chelsea fell apart. A 73rd-minute Bruno Fernandes penalty and 78th-minute Rashford goal made sure the points were staying in Manchester. Jao Felix scored an 89th minute consolation goal to make it 4-1 but it was a woeful performance in the second-half by The Blues. A trend for United this season has been a good first half gets canceled out by an awful second-half performance, today it was the other way around.

Due to an ankle injury in the first half, Anthony will likely be out of the F.A. Cup final on June 3rd, but with Marcus Rashford back from injury, Manchester United will be very happy with today's result. Luke Shaw was also taken off early but it’s unknown whether it was due to injury, fatigue, or rest.

Although it was a damaging loss for Chelsea, players like Noni Madueke, Carney Chukwuemeka, and Enzo Fernandez stepped up in the first-half and created plenty of chances. Frank Lampard will know that certain aspects from his side's performance were positive even if most were negative. For Chelsea it will take many steps to bring the club back to where it needs to be and performances today illustrate the first step taken towards recovery.

(Image via Vanguard News)