Manchester United raced to victory in the return fixture against Chelsea thus preventing a league double for the West London club.
Manchester United managed to pull up their socks just when it mattered the most and produced a massive victory at Old Trafford, thanks to goals from Marcus Rashford and Ander Herrera. It was a sweet moment for Mourinho whose team was humiliated 4-0 by Antonio Conte's Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Let’s take a look at the 5 major talking points from the game:
1) Benching Ibra brings Rashford to life
Very few would have thought that benching Zlatan Ibrahimovic would turn out to be a boon for United as Marcus Rashford wreaked havoc in Chelsea defence, with his blistering pace and ability to finish clinically. Even when Chelsea was sweeping United's defence to score, Rashford remained the live wire breathing life to the counter attacks initiated by Paul Pogba and Herrera.
2) Absence of Marcus Alonso and Thibaut Courtois
Marcus Alonso injured himself during the warm up of the game which gave a nasty jolt to Conte's plan. He had to shift to a back three and Rashford's opening goal was a result of a fiery counter attack and Chelsea's defence lacked the pace to keep up with a live-wire like Rashford. Thibaut Courtois belongs to a different league altogether if the Belgian was there, the opener might have been averted.
3) Police man marking in midfield
Matteo Darmian stuck to Pedro and Herrera to Eden Hazard like shadows and never allowed them to link up with Diego Costa. While Hazard loves to link up play and expects a return pass, Herrera's attention prevented him from either taking shots or putting a decent ball through.
4) Mourinho out-thinks Conte
Many thought that Mourinho has fielded a defensive line up as he rested Ibrahimovic. But putting in Rashford was a master stroke, who with his pace scored the opener. Mourinho lined up his side where a 5-man midfield moved continuously up and down the field linking up the play with the attack and coming down to mark their individual man, thus helping in defence as well. In short the midfield acted like a spring, which contracted and expanded as the situation demanded.
Moreover, Conte continued with his blunders when Cesc Fabregas took the field only after the second goal replacing an ineffective Victor Moses. Willian also came in late as Mourinho had already brought in Michael Carrick to neutalise any attacking threat.
5) United's victory blows open race for title and top four places
With this win, Manchester United have a strong chance of finishing within the top four and they should not pin all their hopes on Europa League to have Champions League football next season. Although they have three difficult away fixtures (Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal) but if they are able to continue this fine form then they can even barge into the top three. On the other hand, the championship race has become wide open as there is only a four point-gap between Chelsea and second-placed Tottenham, with six games to go and Chelsea to visit White Hart Lane in one of those fixtures.
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 "English Premier League (EPL), Manchester United, Chelsea, Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte, Ander Herrera, Pedro, Eden Hazard, Zlata")
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