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Cucurella to the rescue again to keep Chelsea on Champions League track

Chelsea will have defender Marc Cucurella to thank if they hit their target of qualifying for next season's Champions League.

The tenacious, bushy-haired Spaniard once again popped up to score a vital goal as the Londoners beat Manchester United 1-0 on Friday, leaving them on the cusp of returning to Europe's elite competition.

Cucurella powered a header past Andre Onana in the 71st minute, latching on to a perfect cross by Reece James as the two Chelsea wing backs combined to pierce United's defence.

The goal settled the nerves of the home players and supporters who had been staring at the prospect of Chelsea dropping out of the Premier League's top five Champions League qualifying spots with only one more game to play this season.

Cucurella, 26, similarly snatched the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win over Leicester City in March, put the Blues on course to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers in January and opened the scoring in a 2-1 win over Brentford in December.

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