Football: Chelsea’s stumble opens up the title race

“Suddenly, there is that seed of doubt,” said Jason Burt in The Daily Telegraph. For months, Chelsea’s title challenge had looked like a cakewalk: as recently as 18 March, they were 13 points clear. But following Sunday’s 2-0 away defeat to Manchester United, there are just four points separating them from Tottenham. It was a “performance of champions”, all right – but by a United side that put in their best display yet under José Mourinho. Chelsea, by contrast, looked like “a front runner desperately straining for the finish line”. It was the first time in almost a decade that they failed to hit a shot on target in a Premier League match; they haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of their past ten games. The Blues should still prevail, but it is “no longer a procession”.

Mourinho delivered a “tactical masterclass”, said Daniel Taylor in The Guardian. His team sheet raised a few eyebrows – he left out talismanic striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and opted for an unorthodox 3-1-4-1-1 formation. Yet the manager had “worked out everything to a T”: his players “out-thought, out-ran and out-fought” the Blues, nullifying their best players and exploiting the weaknesses of their defence. Their performance made it all the more bewildering that they are “so far back in Chelsea’s wing mirrors”, 15 points off the top – particularly as they have not been beaten in 22 matches. The problem is that the Red Devils have drawn far too many games, said Paul Hayward in The Daily Telegraph. So often this season they have been a “blunt force”: they have scored far fewer goals than any other team in the top seven. Like many of their players, Marcus Rashford has struggled to find the net; after a “sensational start” to his United career, he had “drifted into the mists”. On Sunday, however, the 19-year-old profited from Ibrahimovic’s absence, playing in his preferred position of centre forward – and he opened the scoring after just seven minutes. Making only his 25th league appearance, Rashford was “quick, relentless and skilful”.

If one player epitomised United’s “intensity and discipline”, it was Ander Herrera, said Henry Winter in The Times. The Spanish midfielder scored one goal and set up Rashford’s; his marking was so effective that he forced Eden Hazard into a “straitjacket”. A “combination of brain and heart”, he executed Mourinho’s tactics with “sustained concentration”. If only Diego Costa had that kind of focus, said Oliver Kay in the same paper. Instead, the Chelsea striker offered “little beyond histrionics”. In the first half of the season, he carried the team – yet in his last five league matches he hasn’t scored or created a chance. Chelsea must reinvigorate Costa, or “find a way to play without him”. Otherwise, their wobble could turn into “a serious stumble”.