Key events
12 min: Gallagher and Chukwuemeka are seeing quite a lot of the ball on the edge of United’s box. No way through at the moment, though.
10 min: Chelsea are all over the shop at the back … but United don’t exactly look watertight either. Havertz races down the inside-right channel and should find Gallagher, inexplicably free on the penalty spot. But his low cross is too strong and too far ahead of his team-mate. This could quite easily be 2-2 already.
9 min: Sancho drives down the inside-left channel and slips a diagonal pass through what passes for Chelsea’s back line and towards Fernandes, free in the middle on the edge of the box. But Fernandes can’t control and the ball squirts through to Kepa.
8 min: The goal stands! Meanwhile here’s Jeff Sax: “That fantastic Chelsea counter-attack that ended with a spectacular miss, it sums up Todd Boehly.”
7 min: VAR are checking this for offside. To the naked eye, the goal looks fine. But let’s see. We’ve been wrong before.
GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Chelsea (Casemiro 6)
A free kick for United out on the left touchline. Shaw and Eriksen stand over it as their team-mates queue up on the edge of the box. Eriksen curls it in. Casemiro rises highest, six yards out, and plants a header into the top left. Kepa rooted to the spot. Champions League ahoy for United!
4 min: Chelsea should be leading. Hall is sent scampering into space down the left by Gallagher’s clever ball around the corner. Hall rolls into the centre for Mudryk, who is free, six yards out. Mudryk opens his body and wafts a miserable effort wide right. He had to score. He’s not exactly prolific, to be fair, but even so.
3 min: Madueke makes good down the right and cuts back for Chukwuemeka, who attempts a curler over De Gea and towards the top-left corner. It’s always flying over the bar.
2 min: Within 20 seconds, Chalobah gifts the ball to Antony, who nearly releases Fernandes into the Chelsea box with a pass down the inside-right channel. That’s intercepted, but United come again, Casemiro winning possession and starting a move that sees Fernandes nearly find Sancho free, 12 yards out. Chelsea concede the first corner of the match and deal with it, but this is a strong start by the home side.
Chelsea get the ball rolling. They’ll be kicking towards the Stretford End in this first half.
The teams are out! Manchester United wear their storied red, Chelsea their royal blue. Old Trafford is buzzing ahead of its penultimate game of the season. Joy Division, the Stone Roses, reworkings of John Denver songs, there’s something for everyone. Meanwhile turns out Peter Oh (7.41pm) isn’t the only one wishing United somehow make a monumental balls of their Champions League bid. “The complexity of being a football supporter when the two teams you dislike most are playing each other,” begins Richard Hirst. “As a Fulham supporter do I hope United get a point, so that they field a weakened team against us and we get some revenge, albeit hollow, for the FA Cup defeat? Or given that Chelsea cannot finish above us, do I subordinate my lifelong antipathy towards them and hope they win, so that on Sunday we can get real revenge and kick United out of the Champions League (always assuming Liverpool win)? It has to be the latter, so come on Chelsea (how much I hate saying that!).” We’ll be off in a minute.
A reminder of just how close Manchester United are to securing Champions League football. We’ll assume Chelsea fans won’t want reminding of where their lads are in the table.
Pre-match postbag o’patter. “I find it incredible that Garnacho doesn’t start ahead of Sancho or even Antony” – Paul Howarth
“Should Lampard postpone any further Premier League dreams and follow his golden generation mate Wayne Rooney and search out a MLS manager position and work a bit at his craft before returning down the line?” – Mary Waltz (who already knows the answer)
“I hate what modern football does to me. It’s almost certainly too much to expect Chelsea and Fulham to beat United and keep Liverpool’s top-four hopes alive, but hey, as long as the chance has not been mathematically extinguished: Come on you Boehly-ball Blues!!! Lamps you Legend, Do it for Stevie G!!! Sigh. It sure is hard to maintain one’s dignity in the era of modern football” – Peter Oh
Lampard exits, and Erik ten Hag immediately takes over the mic. “You don’t get a point, you have to deserve a point … but for me that can never be an approach for a game, you have to win a game … we want to play in our style, proactive and dynamic … we are in a really good position but we have to get the job done … we have to focus on this game … we have to show a winning attitude and go for it … Chelsea have high potential, as a group of players they are outstanding … but it’s not about them, it’s about us, and we have to make it our game … it has to be high levels because they have good players … there is a really positive vibe at Carrington … a top culture … we have to set higher standards and get better.”
Frank Lampard talks to Sky. “We’re playing for pride, playing for Chelsea … opportunity for each individual … the season may be over in terms of what we can achieve and what Chelsea are used to achieving, but individually there’s a reason in the dressing room for everyone … there’s a lot of pride at stake … [the large squad size] has been challenging … it’s been a difficult balance this year and I’ve obviously come in at the back end of that … the squad size is something the club will address … there are a lot of standards and basics that have dropped down a level … the basic level before you get to tactics needs to step up again.”
As for the Mason Mount situation? “I don’t know what the solution is going to be … it’s a club and Mason issue … I don’t know where Mason is at personally … I know he’s held in high regard at the club and do what they can to make him stay … I would never talk in the modern day about what a player should do … players move on … it’s a shame we’ve got into this situation where it’s maybe happening.”
Manchester United are on a two-game winning tear-up, so if it ain’t broke, etc., and so forth, and so on. Erik ten Hag names an unchanged starting XI after the 1-0 win at Bournemouth last weekend. Marcus Rashford returns from injury and takes a spot on the bench.
Chelsea make three changes to the side that started the 1-0 defeat at Manchester City on Sunday. Carney Chukwuemeka, Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke replace Thiago Silva and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who drop to the bench, and Raheem Sterling, who misses out altogether.
The teams
Manchester United: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Lindelof, Shaw, Casemiro, Eriksen, Antony, Fernandes, Sancho, Martial.
Subs: Butland, Dalot, Maguire, Malacia, Fred, McTominay, Garnacho, Rashford, Weghorst.
Chelsea: Kepa, W Fofana, Chalobah, Azpilicueta, Fernandez, Chukwuemeka, Madueke, Hall, Gallagher, Havertz, Mudryk.
Subs: Mendy, Silva, Pulisic, Felix, Loftus-Cheek, Ziyech, Koulibaly, D Fofana, Gilchrist.
Preamble
Manchester United can sense it, smell it, nearly taste and touch it. Yes, the return of Champions League football to Old Trafford, after one long season roaming the barren plains of Europa, is merely a single solitary point away. You’d expect them to get it tonight, not least because the last five meetings between these two giants have ended in a draw. There’s also the small matter of United having not lost a Premier League match at home since the opening day of the season … while Chelsea have lost seven of their last nine matches in all competitions, and Frank Lampard has tasted defeat 18 times in his last 23 managerial outings.
Chelsea have only pride left to play for. They’re already condemned to their first bottom-half finish since 1996; they’re already guaranteed to finish lower than both Brentford and Fulham for the first time in history. So they could do with a boost. Will it spur them on to surprise the upwardly mobile Red Devils? Or will Erik ten Hag’s team secure Champions League football tonight and render the final day visit of Fulham a stress-free experience? Kick off is at 8pm BST. It’s on!
