The Premier league leaders Chelsea had their lead over second placed Tottenham cut down to 4 points as Jose Mourinho masterminded his Manchester United to beat his former team 2-0. This game marked the third meeting between Mourinho and Conte, with the latter winning the earlier two ties, one in the Premier League and the other in FA cup. This United win over Chelsea is the first one post the Sir Alex Ferguson era. Also Jose gets his revenge as Manchester United blow the title race wide open.
Despite Zlatan Ibrahimovic not starting, Manchester united put on a high pressing play with Marcus Rashford using his pace to get behind defenders and converting one of the chances into a goal during the first half.
Manchester United blow open the title race
Chelsea’s Player of the year candidates, Eden Hazard and N’golo Kante, didn’t get much space to play the ball as the former was marked by Ander Herrera and the latter was challenged in the midfield, especially by Paul Pogba. The average positioning of both the teams in the first period saw United deep into Chelsea’s half while Chelsea pressed into their own with Diego Costa just above the half line, displaying the effectiveness of United’s tactics.
A second half shot from Ander Herrera took a massive deflection from Kurt Zouma as it ended in the back of the net and United led by 2 goals.
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United’s pace caused Chelsea a lot problems as Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford, were substituted for Michael Carrick and Zlatan Ibrahimovic respectively, increasing United’s protection of the ball.
Today’s Masterclass tactic by the “Special One” has blown the premier league title race wide open with Spurs getting closer to Chelsea and given their current form, they’ll capitalize on any mistake that Chelsea makes in their remaining 6 fixtures. This result also raised the stakes for the FA Cup semi-final match between Chelsea and Tottenham on 22nd April.
