Man United vs Chelsea LIVE: Premier League result and final score as Cristiano Ronaldo salvages point
Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea: Marcos Alonso’s opener was cancelled out by Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo’s fifth goal in three games salvaged a point for Manchester United in a 1-1 draw against Chelsea on Thursday that further damaged his team’s chances of a top-four finish in the Premier League.
Ronaldo ran onto a ball over the Chelsea defense from Nemanja Matic and delivered a clinical finish in the 62nd minute, two minutes after Marcos Alonso gave the visitors the lead.
Reece James later curled a shot against the post for Chelsea, which dominated the first half but found United goalkeeper David de Gea in fine form.
With only three games left to play in the league, United stayed in sixth place — five points behind fourth-place Arsenal and having played two matches more than its rival for Champions League qualification.
Tottenham is between the two teams, in the fifth spot, with three more points than United and two games in hand.
Chelsea consolidated third place and is six points above Arsenal.
Ronaldo came into the game having scored a hat trick against Norwich and another goal against Arsenal in his previous two games.
On 17 goals, Ronaldo is tied with Son Heung-min in second place in the Premier League scoring chart behind Mohamed Salah.
Football agent Mino Raiola’s Twitter account denies reports of death
Reports of football agent Mino Raiola’s death have been denied in a tweet from his official Twitter account.
Italian media reports on Thursday afternoon claimed the 54-year-old - who represents players like Paul Pogba, Erling Haaland and Zlatan Ibrahimovic - had died.
However, a tweet from Raiola’s official account said: “Current health status for the ones wondering: p***** off second time in 4 months they kill me. Seem also able to resuscitate.”
Reports of Mino Raiola’s death denied by agent’s official Twitter account
The 54-year-old represents a number of top footballers including Paul Pogba, Erling Haaland and Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Man Utd vs Chelsea team changes
Ralf Rangnick makes just one change to the Manchester United team that lost to Arsenal last time out. Jadon Sancho has tonsilitis and is replaced with Marcus Rashford.
Thomas Tuchel makes two changes to the Chelsea starting XI. Antonio Rudiger returns to the back line to replace Trevoh Chalobah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek is switched out for Reece James.
Man Utd vs Chelsea line-ups
Man Utd XI: De Gea, Dalot, Lindelof, Varane, Telles, McTominay, Matic, Elanga, Fernandes, Rashford, Ronaldo
Chelsea XI: Mendy, Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Rudiger, James, Kante, Jorginho, Alonso, Mount, Havertz, Werner
For Manchester United, the season’s end cannot come soon enough
At the start of the season, there was a broad consensus on the make-up of the Premier League’s final top four and a band of overwhelming favourites to qualify for next season’s Champions League. The order depended on who you asked but just about everybody agreed that Manchester City and Liverpool would be joined by Chelsea and Manchester United.
Two of those four clubs have spent the past week competing in the semi-finals of this season’s Champions League, having already secured their place in next season’s too. For City, to win the competition would be the crowning moment of the Abu Dhabi era. For Liverpool, it could still complete an unprecedented quadruple. It is late April and this season could still be a historic one for both clubs.
Their two rivals, by contrast, can barely wait for the campaign to end. Chelsea and United play each other at Old Trafford this evening in a fixture that will have little bearing on their respective seasons, a game that has been shunted around the schedule to clash with the Europa League. Many viewers might decide that West Ham’s first European semi-final in 46 years is an altogether more enticing prospect than this meeting of two jaded giants.
For Manchester United, the season’s end cannot come soon enough
Ralf Rangnick’s disjointed and injury-stricken squad are playing for professional pride alone
Man Utd vs Chelsea
Who’s going to win this one tonight? Chelsea will be favourites but there’s are feeling that Man Utd might just pull something out of the bag.
Van Basten warns Ten Hag not to exclude Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo is set to play once again for Manchester United and has been impressive this season despite being in a team which hasn’t found form. Though the Portuguese star has scored some beautiful goals for the team, it’s thought new permanent manager Erik ten Hag doesn’t want to feature him in his side next season but Netherlands legend Marco van Basten has warned him not to exclude Ronaldo.
“Ronaldo is a player who does his own thing, but as long as he delivers, you have to give him a place in the team,” he said speaking to the Rondo show. “Ten Hag will take into account that he cannot ask the same things physically from Cristiano Ronaldo that he will be asking of an 18-year-old.
“Of course, Ronaldo will need to work hard – and I am sure he will work hard because I can see Ten Hag having an influence on him to get him to play how he wants. I will give Erik one piece of advice: don’t listen to the media when you start there.
“He will have such a massive focus on his own job, on his work on the training ground and on the team. And when he does that, I am sure he can change everything at United.”
David de Gea ‘embarrassed’ and ‘feels horrible’ about Manchester United’s form
David de Gea has said that he feels “embarrassed” and “horrible” about Manchester United’s form.
United are at risk of their lowest-ever Premier League finish after suffering three defeats in four games to effectively end their hopes of securing a top-four place.
Interim manager Ralf Rangnick has four games to end United’s season on a positive note, starting with the visit of Chelsea to Old Trafford on Thursday evening.
David de Gea ‘embarrassed’ and ‘feels horrible’ about Manchester United’s form
United have suffered three defeats in four games to effectively end hopes of a top-four finish
Jurgen Klopp signs contract extension with Liverpool
In other Premier League news, Jurgen Klopp has agreed to spend another two years as Liverpool boss and will stay at the club until 2026.
It’s a boost for Liverpool and I bet their rival Manchester United fans are happy about this one. Here’s all the details on Klopp’s new deal:
Jurgen Klopp signs Liverpool contract extension to 2026
The German has committed to four more years at the club
Thomas Tuchel on trying to retain Antonio Rudiger
Chelsea boss, Thomas Tuchel, spoke about how the club tried to keep hold of defender Antonio Rudiger who is leaving at the the end of the season.
The financial sanctions on the club mean that Rudiger and Chelsea couldn’t come to an agreement over a new contract and with Real Madrid knocking Rudiger has decided to move on.
Tuchel said: “We fought hard; I fought hard on a personal level. We made big offers to him, and the club tried everything. But for some weeks we cannot fight any more because we have the sanctions. We cannot adjust. We cannot continue, and so it is what it is.”
And he added: “He deserves my full support because he delivered incredible performances right until today. I’m just happy that I had the chance to coach him and to have him in the team. Because he was nothing but brilliant.”
Premier League standings
Manchester United come into the game sitting sixth. They are six points away from Arsenal in fourth but have already played a game more than the Gunners and Spurs who are fifth. United’s hopes for a top four finish hang by a thread and tonight’s game is a must win if they want to stay in contention.
Chelsea are pretty safe. They’re third and have a five point lead over Arsenal plus tonight’s game in hand. The Blues are a disappointing 15 points behind league leaders Manchester City but Thomas Tuchel will look to consolidate their position in the top three, secure Champions League football for next season and focus on beating Liverpool in the FA Cup final. If they achieve all those goals it won’t be too bad of a season for Chelsea.
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