Marcus Rashford and Ander Rashford fired Manchester United to a 2-0 victory in their Premier League encounter against Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday evening.
Rashford’s early strike and a deflected Herrera effort were the difference between the two teams on Sunday, as United moved into fifth place in the Premier League standings with 60 points after securing their 16th win in the league this season.
Meanwhile, the gap between Antonio Conte’s men and Tottenham Hotspurs in second place remains at four points with six games to play until the end of the season.
However, Chelsea, who have been at the summit if the table since 5 November 2016, appear to have an easier run-in than Spurs as they don’t have to face any of the top six, while the North Londoners have home matches against Arsenal and United still to come.
The Red Devils got off to a bright start and took the lead in the seventh minute when Herrera played Rashford through on-goal and the forward netted past the on-rushing goalkeeper.
United nearly doubled their lead in the 16th minute when Ashley Young played a low cross into the box, but Rashford could not make any contact on the ball as it went out for a goal kick.
Jose Mourinho’s side had another opportunity at goal in the 28th minute when Paul Pogba rolled the ball towards Young, whose shot from 20 yards out went wide of the target.
The Blues had their first real chance at goal on the stroke of half-time when Diego Costa drilled a fierce shot from 25 yards out but his shot went wide of the target.
United doubled their lead in the 49th minute when Herrera’s effort at goal took a massive deflection off Kurt Zouma to fly past the hapless Thibaut Courtois to make it 2-0.
Chelsea had a chance to pull a goal back in the 60th minute when Eden Hazard played a cross towards Pedro at the far post, but the winger could only volley his effort wide of the upright.
Rashford could’ve put United further ahead a minute later when he beat his marker before he unleashed his effort at goal, but his shot could only hit the side-netting.
United looked confident going forward and almost added a third in the 69th minute when Rashford beat his marker before getting a low shot at goal, but the Chelsea shot-stopper was on hand to deny the forward.
Mourinho’s side were happy enough to soak up the pressure from Chelsea but the league leaders struggled to carve out real chances in the closing stages of the match.
The Red Devils held onto their 2-0 lead to secure all three points, with the result seeing the Blues’ lead at the summit of the table being reduced to four points.
Photo: Premier League website
