After just six minutes, Casemiro gave us the lead with a towering header from a Christian Eriksen corner kick. Although the visitors posed an intermittent threat in the first half, especially as halftime approached, United dealt another blow when Anthony Martial doubled our advantage in stoppage time.
After the break, Erik ten Hag’s squad came out strong once more, dominating play save for a few saves from David De Gea. The Theatre of Dreams became joyful as we sped ahead with two more goals later in the half.
Four minutes into the game, after Carney Chukwuemeka had missed with a shot, the visitors could have grabbed the lead when youthful full-back Lewis Hall was given space by Conor Gallagher. Hall skillfully crossed the ball to Mykhailo Mudryk, who skied it wide from close range.
However, United seized the lead after just six minutes as Casemiro scored for the second game in a row. The Brazilian midfielder headed in a decisive effort past Blues goalie Kepa Arrizabalaga from the rebound of an Eriksen free-kick to give us the lead right away.
The young Chelsea team occasionally threatened, but United were in control of the game despite it being open. This was demonstrated when Antony sprinted down the right side with seeming freedom of the field, but stumbled as he took his shot from beyond the box.
With 19 minutes remaining, the Reds could have made it two as United went three against one in attack thanks to Eriksen’s spectacular pass to Antony, who found Martial in the box. However, the opposition recovered the ball after the Frenchman made a careless touch.
After 25 minutes, the game took a negative turn when we lost Antony to injury. Trevoh Chalobah’s challenge prompted our no. 21 to leave the pitch on a stretcher, hence Marcus Rashford’s exit from the game sooner than expected.
Sancho’s incomplete ball to Martial set up a Chelsea counterattack, which Kai Havertz headed wide from a prime position. Mudryk then attempted to weave through the middle with a slaloming move but was stopped inside our box.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka stopped Hall’s attempt, Gallagher curled wide, and then Enzo Fernandez played the latter clear through before it sailed wide of the far post as Chelsea searched for an equaliser.
Similar to the first goal, United retaliated for Chelsea’s miss by going up the other end and scoring right away. Deep in first-half stoppage time, Casemiro’s easy no-look ball found Sancho in behind, and he set it up for Martial to double our lead.
Luke Shaw was replaced by Tyrell Malacia at the start of the second half, but it was Victor Lindelof, a fellow defender, who set the tone for an impressive second half. The Swedish player snuck in to steal the ball from Gallagher and send it to Sancho, who set up Fernandes for the opening shot. Fernandes’ thunderous attempt slammed into the woodwork.
David De Gea didn’t have to make his first stop of the game until five minutes in the second half when he had to turn Mudryk’s low shot past his right post for a corner.
After Wan-Bissaka’s effort was blocked, Malacia attempted a low ball over the face, which Eriksen heeled goalward from behind him. Kepa scrambled to clear the ball, and Casemiro’s follow-up attempt from 20 yards out fizzed just wide.
End-to-end play continued as De Gea made a solid double save to block Hall’s curling attempt and then responded quickly to stop Mudryk’s deflected shot.
Both teams made two substitutions, briefly slowing the pace of the game, but Ten Hag’s adjustments were more successful right away. Alejandro Garnacho and Fred began the battle, and after two minutes, the latter sent Fernandes down the left side of the field. Fernandes was then hacked down in the box by Wesley Fofana, and a penalty was given as a consequence.
For the fourth goal, Rashford was the one who scored. Rashford scored our first 30-goal season striker since Robin van Persie did it ten years ago after Fernandes found him after Fofana misplaced a ball in the Chelsea area. After Kepa made an early save, Rashford finished into an empty net.
By this time, United was definitely looking for more, and when Garnacho’s shot was deflected onto the crossbar and over, they had a chance to extend their lead. Felix’s 89th-minute response, which denied De Gea a clean sheet with a run through the middle and a beautiful strike into the bottom left corner, ruined our good night’s work.
Kepa made saves in stoppage time from Rashford and McTominay, but our work was already done because United’s superb second-half performance secured the win and guaranteed a top-four Premier League finish.
