Manchester United continued to drag their heels in the Premier League with a 1-0 defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
It was another night to forget for Manchester United in the Premier League, after suffering their 18th defeat in the competition this season.
Head coach Ruben Amorim opted to name a strong line-up to face Chelsea, despite the Europa League final looming large on the horizon. He made a total of five changes to the XI beaten by West Ham last weekend, even though United fans were worried about further injury setbacks.
Luckily, United avoided any fresh injuries and Ayden Heaven made his return from injury as a substitute in the second half.
Before then, Harry Maguire thought he had opened the scoring with a half-volley. That was before VAR intervened and overruled the goal for offside.
Chelsea eventually took the lead through Marc Cucurella’s header at the back post, beating Noussair Mazraoui to the ball in the air.
The defeat means United remain 16th in the Premier League.
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Ruben Amorim takes positive from Chelsea defeat
Chelsea were clear favourites going into the game, but United started brightly and put up a fight as underdogs.
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Amorim was satisfied with the performance against Chelsea, even though United are now winless in eight league games. He stressed that the Red Devils were competitive throughout the game but need to be more aggressive in the final third.
“I think we started great, well but in the final third we needed to be a bit more aggressive,” Amorim told BBC Sport. “We were there, we faced the game in the right way. It was a bit of bad luck today. Sometimes we want to press and to score a goal but we lost a little bit of concentration.
“It was different but you never like when you lose the game. We were competitive, that was clear.”
United have a few days to right their wrongs before the big final against Tottenham.
The Reds haven’t been clinical in the Premier League, but it’s been a different story in the Europa League.
Hopefully, the Reds can claim their first win over Tottenham this season after previously losing on three occasions.
Amorim excited for Europa League final
There is no denying that everyone at United had one eye on the Europa League going into the game against Chelsea.
That has been the case in recent weeks following an abysmal domestic campaign.
Amorim added that the excitement is building ahead of the Europa League, saying: “Of course, we are excited to be in the final. Since day one the pressure has been there but I live quite well with the pressure.
“When you have the final of any cup, we show up so we are prepared for that.”