Manchester United FC see their 19-game unbeaten streak end by Chelsea in the semi-final of the FA Cup with a score-line of 3-1. The Red Devils manager Solskjaer made quite a lot of changes as United started with a three-man defence system. The players that came in were James, Bailly and Fred for Pogba, Martial and Greenwood.
United looked uncomfortable from the onset as they tried to play out from the back, with little or no success. Chelsea also played a three-man defence system, but their full-backs played much higher up the pitch and attacked much more than their counterparts. Both managers took the game lightly as it was shown by the choice of team selection, but Lampard had better options than Solskjaer.
Fred and Matic struggled in the midfield to distribute passes and at the 45-minute mark, Bailly was injured. He suffered a clash of heads with Harry Maguire, which saw the Ivorian being stretchered off with an oxygen mask. With Bailly off, United went back to a more familiar 4-3-3 shape with Martial coming on to play upfront.
With half-time lurking, Chelsea opened the scoring with Giroud, who scored with a cheeky near-post finish. The cross came from the left side, as Brandon Williams and Matic were unable to stop the cross. The second half started with United trying to play out from the back but gave the ball away and saw Mason Mount’s tame effort go into De Gea’s goal.
This goal was another mistake from the Spanish goalkeeper this season, as Chelsea doubled their lead. After conceding the second goal, Solskjaer brought on Pogba and Greenwood in a bid to get a result for his team. United played well for some time and created a couple of chances from the corner, only for Maguire to head the ball wide.
Overall, United were pretty poor in comparison to Chelsea and the Blues of London, deserved a victory. Chelsea got the third goal as well towards the end of the match, which was later deemed as a Maguire own goal. Bruno Fernandes scored the only goal for the Red Devils from the penalty spot, as Martial was fouled in the box.
With the final two games in the Premier League coming up, it will be interesting to see how United respond to their defeat.
