Raiola in rant at Ole over Pog
left with a bloody nose and had only just returned to the pitch when he was left exposed.
Wan-Bissaka (being booked, left) broke down the right, Willian did not do enough to stop him crossing the ball, and there was Anthony Martial rising above Christensen to glance home his 13th goal of the season.
France international Martial can so often be a frustrating player, goes AWOL for long periods, and looks disinterested, but then comes alive in priceless moments.
Chelsea looked to have equalised after 56 minutes when Kurt Zouma scored, only for VAR to disallow it for Cesar Azpilicueta’s push on Luke Shaw.
Soon after, United were two up. Fernandes, who had hit the post with a free-kick, floated in a corner and Maguire headed powerfully home for his first Premier League goal for United in front of watching England boss Gareth Southgate.
Chelsea substitute Olivier Giroud appeared to have got one back after 77 minutes but VAR ruled he was offside ( far left) to prove it really was not Lampard’s night. Loanee striker Odion
Ighalo made his United debut as a sub in injury-time but by then it was all over as United climbed to seventh in the table.
MATCH STATS
AS ever in football, you get what you pay for.
Not often enough, of course, in the case of Manchester United match-winner Anthony Martial. But more often than Chelsea misfit Michy Batshuayi.
While Martial conjured up the kind of class he is capable of in patches, Batshuayi endured yet another wretched night. Not because he is a bad player, but because he is well aware that Frank Lampard wants more than he is able to provide. His confidence is shot to pieces.
The Chelsea boss made it clear long before the January transfer window opened that he needed quality reinforcements up front.
Tammy Abraham, he argued, is still learning the game.
Lampard just doesn’t fancy Olivier Giroud – despite his positive impact when he came on here – and Batshuayi, well, he just can’t stop missing the kind of chances that a higher-calibre striker would tuck away with the minimum of fuss.
Twice he had good opportunities in the first half. Twice he badly fluffed his lines.
So Chelsea tried – and failed – to sign Lyon’s Moussa Dembele. Only to be told they had no chance until at least the summer. Then they moved in on Napoli’s veteran frontman Dries Mertens — only for the Belgian to tell them he wants to see out the season, and his contract, in Italy before deciding on his future.
And now Lampard and Chelsea’s fans have to slowly watch their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League go up in smoke. They were held against Leicester, blew it against 10-man Arsenal after leading twice, surrendered at Newcastle, somehow failed to break down struggling Brighton.
No, Batshuayi (top) didn’t play in all of those games of course. But he should have been the man to make a difference. Instead he is marking time until the summer, by which time Chelsea are likely to be in the Europa League.
PAUL POGBA’S agent has told Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to concentrate on Manchester United’s future instead of the World Cup winning Frenchman’s.
Mino Raiola unleashed an astonishing rant at the Reds boss after Solskjaer insisted United would determine Pogba’s future.
Raiola said on social media: “Pogba is not mine and for sure not Solskjaer’s property. Paul is Paul Pogba’s. You cannot own a human being already for a long time in the UK or anywhere else. I hope Solskjaer don’t want to suggest that Paul is his prisoner”.
“I think Solskjaer may be frustrated for different reasons and is now mixing up. I think Solskjaer has other things to worry about. At least, if I was him I would.”
The blast is the latest in a series of jabs from Raiola, with Juventus interested in taking the superstar midfielder back to Serie A.
His latest outburst comes after Solskjaer tried to insist he and the club would determine Pogba’s future rather than his agent.
“Paul is our player and not Mino’s,” Solskjaer said.
“I’ve not spoken to Mino, that’s for sure.”
Anthony Taylor
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