Martial and Maguire give United hope of top four

THE away end were chanting about Manchester City leaving their passports back in the drawer.

Suddenly, Manchester United can see a place in the Champions League opening up for them at Pep Guardiola’s expense after City’s two-year European ban.

And, worryingly for Chelsea, they are left looking nervously over their shoulders because it is now just one win from their last six Premier League games.

Poor Frank Lampard saw two goals ruled out by VAR and the Blues’ next home games are against Tottenham, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Everton, and Manchester City.

The chase for fourth looks a tough one and Chelsea appear to have lost the early-season zip their kids provided.

They look flat and are now in danger of being overtaken by United, who are just one win behind.

The Red Devils were powerful, strong and resilient, as Harry Maguire scored and marshalled his defence brilliantly in a defiant away performance, with Eric Bailly and Aaron Wan-Bissaka also excellent.

Ole Gunnar Solskajer’s men looked to be drifting a few weeks back but now have a momentum which is pushing them up the table.

The United fans were singing ‘Solskjaer’, along with a rather witty song about City’s European woes to the tune of an

Inspiral Carpets tune from yesteryear. “This is how it feels to be City, this is how it feels to be small, this is how it feels to have your passport back in the drawer”.

It has been a long time since United had anything to crow about over City – but now they certainly do. Chelsea’s cause was not helped when N’Golo Kante went off injured inside 12 minutes and, even though Mason Mount came on and did well, it definitely disrupted their plans in a sluggish opening half hour.

United defender Maguire was lucky to survive a VAR check after appearing to kick out with a trailing leg at Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi. It looked like a red card. Batshuayi missed a big chance after 26 minutes when Pedro and Mount combined to set up the Belgium international who missed from 12 yards. Bailly looked sharp and alert in United’s defence in his first start since last April, while Willian was unlucky to get booked for a dive when TV replays showed that United new boy Bruno Fernandes had made a clumsy challenge. But it was the visitors who finished the half well – and with the opening goal. Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen needed treatment after being