- Cole Palmer, Alejandro Garnacho painfully ineffective
- As Blues deliver another blunt attack for Coach Liam Rosenior
Chelsea suffered a devastating blow to their next season’s Champions League qualifying dreams going down 0-1 at their Stamford Bridge home to Manchester United on Saturday night.
Despite being buoyed by the return of Enzo Fernandez after his club-imposed suspension, Chelsea looked miserable on the night though the Argentine showed what Coach Liam Rosenior’s side had been missing in his absence.
For the Red Devils, it was a massive step towards Champions League qualification. Matheus Cunha’s first-half goal ensured they moved 10 points clear of the Blues in sixth with only five games of the Premier League season remaining.
United could have found themselves behind just after the half-hour mark when Enzo Fernandez ghosted away from makeshift centre-back Noussair Mazraoui before firing past the post when one-on-one with Keeper Senne Lammens.
Minutes after, the Blues had the ball in the net when Lammens parried another Fernandez shot into Cole Palmer’s path, squaring for Liam Delap to tap in, but the offside flag was already raised.
However, against the run of play, Coach Michael Carrick men took the lead on 43 minutes. Captain fantastic Bruno Fernandes did well to scamper to the byline and grab his 18th Premier League assist of the season, cutting back for Cunha to thump into the top corner.
Thereafter, the visitors survived numerous scares, especially after the break when Delap and Wesley Fofana both headed Pedro Neto crosses onto the bar, but that was as close as Chelsea came to an equaliser during a tense second half.
Again, the Blues were disappointing as they failed to score in what was a fourth consecutive Premier League loss as one of their top-five rivals United ran away with a hard-won victory on the night.
