Man Utd seal Champions League spot with thumping win over wasteful Chelsea

Manchester United sealed their place in next season’s Champions League with a thumping 4-1 win over Chelsea on Thursday night.

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Goals from Casemiro, Anthony Martial, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford got the job more than well done against a wasteful and woeful Blues side who simply cannot wait for the season to end.

United needed just a point to secure a top-four finish in Erik ten Hag’s maiden season in charge and their attention will now turn to the FA Cup final against Manchester City on 3rd June.

Both sides started brightly, with Mykhailo Mudryk missing a sitter in just the fourth minute after being well set up by Lewis Hall – a move that rather summed up Chelsea’s night.

Frank Lampard named the youngest starting XI in Chelsea’s Premier League history and they were made pay for their early miss moments later when a practically unmarked Casemiro headed in Christian Eriksen’s free-kick.

The away side had the better of the ball in the first-half but lacked a cutting edge in the final third, with Kai Havertz heading wide from close distance while Conor Gallagher flashed a shot just wide of the post as the clock ticked over to injury-time.

And yet again United made them pay for their lack of clinicalness just a few minutes later with Jadon Sancho selflessly teeing up Martial for a tap-in after latching on to Casemiro’s flick on.

After the break it was the Red Devils’ turn to waste chances with Fernandes smacking the crossbar before Eriksen somehow failed to get the ball over the line from a yard or two out.

Chelsea continued to press for a much-needed goal but David De Gea did well to make a double-save to deny Hall and Mudryk.

Fernandes then sealed the three points, cooly slotting home from the spot after he was fouled in the box by Wesley Fofana, though tensions threatened to boil over when Enzo Fernandez bizarrely decide to confront the celebrating players afterwards.

Rashford was gifted the fourth goal soon after, becoming the first United player in a decade to score 30 times in a season.

More to follow…

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