LONDON — Man United beat Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on Monday night to breathe new life into their top four hopes.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer‘s side beat yet another top four side as headers in each half from Anthony Martial and Harry Maguire did the damage.
Frank Lampard and his Chelsea side were upset with the officiating as Maguire was lucky to not be sent off for kicking out at Michy Batshuayi with VAR used in the first half, while in the second half VAR chalked off Kurt Zouma‘s goal for a push in the box and Olivier Giroud‘s late strike was also millimeters offside.
Here’s what we learned from a wild clash at Stamford Bridge.
VAR WORKS IN UNITED’S FAVOR
United should have been down to 10 men in the first half as captain Harry Maguire kicked out at Michy Batshuayi. In a near identical incident in December, Heung-Min Son was sent off for kicking out at Antonio Rudiger. VAR should have sent Maguire off and he ended up scoring a superb header which sealed the win.
What did you make of the Harry Maguire/Michy Batshuayi incident earlier in the match? pic.twitter.com/QYg80N9mCQ
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) February 17, 2020
Chelsea also had complaints over Zouma’s goal which was ruled out for a push on Brandon Williams by Cesar Azpilicueta but replays showed that Azpilicueta was pushed by Fred first. That said, Apzilicueta’s two-handed shove wasn’t really needed after the initial push from Fred. There was also an incident where Willian was booked for going over on the edge of the box when Bruno Fernandes dangled out a leg as Chelsea’s coaching staff were livid. As for Giroud’s late goal, half his foot was offside and it just wasn’t Chelsea’s night when it came to all of these close calls plus injuries.
Chelsea scores, but, it's overturned because of a push. 🤐 pic.twitter.com/UfYC6h5S4V
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) February 17, 2020
WASTEFUL CHELSEA IN ‘TOP FIVE’ DANGER
Chelsea had better chances than Man United in the run of play but Michy Batshuayi had a nightmare, plus Willian and Pedro had games to forget on the wing. With Tammy Abraham, Christian Pulisic and Callum Hudson-Odoi out injured there weren’t many options for Lampard to choose from but perhaps Giroud showed enough as he scored (but it was ruled out by VAR) in his brief cameo and surely he will now start if Abraham is out long-term. Chelsea are still in fourth but have won just four of their last 14 games in the Premier League and with Spurs (who they host on Saturday) just one point behind them and United three points behind them, the chasing pack are closing in. All season long Chelsea have squandered chances and even if the Champions League qualification goes down to fifth place due to Man City’s European ban, they may still miss out. They were unlucky with injuries to N’Golo Kante and Andreas Christensen in this game but Chelsea were wasteful and a fired up Man United made them pay.
UNITED’S COUNTER STUNS ANOTHER GIANT
With Chelsea pinning their hopes on a rusty Giroud, Man United’s top four hopes are being held together by plenty of wins against top six teams (albeit a fortuitous one this time) as their main forward Martial delivered when his team needed him most. The Frenchman has been a little inconsistent in Marcus Rashford‘s absence through injury but he stood tall against Chelsea with a fine header and he, along with Bruno Fernandes, showed that extra bit of quality in the final third which Chelsea were missing. Man United’s season is well and truly alive thanks to their first-ever Premier League double over Chelsea and it came thanks to another fine counter-attacking display against a side who took them lightly. Imagine what they can achieve with Paul Pogba and Rashford back in the team.
