United opens up English race
PREMIER LEAGUE
Ander Herrera scored one goal, set up another and executed the perfect man-marking job on Eden Hazard to set up Manchester United’s 2-0 win over Chelsea that opened up the Premier League title race on Sunday.
United didn’t even need rested top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic to consign the leaders to their fifth league loss of the season, which left them only four points ahead of Tottenham with six games left.
Marcus Rashford — Ibrahimovic’s replacement up front — ran onto Herrera’s through-ball to give United a seventh-minute lead. A constant menace for Chelsea’s defence all game, Rashford ensured Ibrahimovic wasn’t missed at Old Trafford.
Herrera shadowed Hazard in a tactical plan by United manager Jose Mourinho that limited the effectiveness of Chelsea’s main attacking threat. On a rare occasion he left Hazard’s side, Herrera popped up in Chelsea’s area in the 49th minute to smash a deflected shot high into the net from 18 metres.
The result didn’t just blow open the title race, it also left the battle for Champions League qualification intriguingly poised.
United moved up to fifth place, four points behind fourth-placed Manchester City with a game in hand, and is six points behind third-placed Liverpool having played two fewer games.
United had conceded five goals and failed to score in its two losses to Chelsea this season — one in the league and one in the FA Cup — but Mourinho got his tactics spot on against his former team this time.
Rashford excelled, stretching Chelsea’s centre backs with the kind of movement and pace that Ibrahimovic would not be able to offer.
Chelsea is still the favourite for the title, with the only obvious stumbling block in its run-in being a trip to Everton on April 30.
Its last four games are against Middlesbrough, West Bromwich Albion, Watford and Sunderland.