Chelsea 1 – 0 Manchester United Match Review – Premier League

Chelsea, led by Head Coach Enzo Maresca, were able to come away with all three points in what was a crucial victory at Stamford Bridge in the race for Champions League Football for next season.

Chelsea are one of many clubs that are still battling for a spot in next season’s UEFA Champions League, and this game against Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United side was a great opportunity to secure another set of crucial three points in what was also the Blues’ final home game of the season at Stamford Bridge. The West London side also wanted to go into the final day of the 2024/25 season with their fate all in their own hands.

And now, it will be. Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea were able to defeat fellow Premier League heavyweight Manchester United 1 – 0 at the Bridge. This was a return to form following defeat against Newcastle United the week before.

It was also a third home league win in a row for the club, with the team having beaten Everton 1 – 0 and the newly crowned Premier League Champions Liverpool 3 – 1 in their previous two home games before sealing a third consecutive home triumph in their last game at Stamford Bridge this season.

This victory now sees the Blues climb up to 4th place in the current Premier League table, with them on no less than 66 points and well within the Champions League places. They are though level on points with Newcastle United in third place, as well as with Aston Villa in fifth place. The race remains as tight as ever, with the battle for the top five place set to go down to the final day of the 2024/25 Premier League season this weekend on Sunday 25th May 2025.

All games on Sunday will be kicking off up and down the country at 16:00 in the afternoon.

Here, we are going to be taking a look back at the enthralling action that saw Chelsea secure that all-important 1 – 0 victory against Ruben Amorim and his Manchester United side.

Match Highlights

Here you can re-live all of the action from what was a momentous and crucial 1 – 0 Premier League win against Manchester United for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge here from Friday evening.

Match Review

In the opening minutes of the game, it was the hosts Chelsea who had the first clear opening to take the lead, and it was a chance that came through their forward Noni Madueke, whose effort from the centre of the box rose just too high over the crossbar after receiving the through ball from Cole Palmer (5’).

It was some time before the next clear opportunity to score arrived for either side, but when it did, it came for the visitors, Manchester United. Ruben Amorim’s team found the back of the Blues’ net through Harry Maguire via his headed effort on goal. However, the England international central defender’s goal was ruled out by VAR after it was deemed that he had scored from an offside position, so it remained level at 0 – 0 between these two teams (17’).

United then had another chance where they could have taken the lead for real, however former Chelsea attacking midfielder and England international Mason Mount has an attempt on goal that went wide of the right post after having received the ball into his feet from left back Patrick Dorgu with just over twenty minutes gone at this point in the contest (21’).

Cole Palmer then had a goal-bound effort well saved by the United defenders to keep it level at 0 – 0 in West London.

Chelsea, seconds later, then had more opportunities to break the deadlock. The first one came through their central defender, Tosin Adarabioyo, whose header from the centre of the box went wide of the left hand side post after having met a great cross into the box from the Blues’ Portuguese forward Pedro Neto (28’).

Then came an effort on goal just seconds later from the Blues’ Argentine 2024 World Cup Winning central midfielder Enzo Fernandez, who was able to get a shot off, only for his effort to be blocked by the visiting defenders (29’).

With just over half an hour gone, Moises Caicedo had a shot blocked from just outside of the penalty area (34’). Cole Palmer then forced a great save from United stopper Andre Onana in what was stoppage time in the first half (45+1’), and following this denial of an opening goal, both teams went into the half time break at Stamford Bridge on level terms at 0 – 0.

The first chance of the second half came thanks to Reece James, who had a shot get blocked before another effort, this time from Manchester United player Mason Mount, whose effort missed the target, with the ball flying wide of the left hand side post after he had received the ball from forward Amad Diallo (52’).

Then, following a missed chance from United’s Bruno Fernandes (55’), Chelsea thought that they had a penalty with less than half an hour of the game remaining, only for the VAR (Video Assistant Referee) to rule it out (62’). 0 – 0 it remained.

The deadlock was finally broken with less than ten minutes remaining in the second half and in the game itself, with Chelsea taking the lead thanks to a headed goal from Marc Cucurella, who managed to find the bottom right corner after the Spaniard had met the cross from his fellow full back Reece James (71’).

Noni Madueke then could have made it 2 – 0, only for the forward’s effort on goal to miss the target via the left hand side post (73’). Then just a few moments later, his fellow forward Pedro Neto forced a great save from Andre Onana to keep things at 1 – 0 to Chelsea, instead of giving the Blues what would be a precious and game-deciding second goal (78’).

Then came another effort and chance for Manchester United with just over ten minutes to go, with the aforementioned Amad Diallo forcing a great save from Chelsea stopper Robert Sanchez, who kept it at 1 – 0 to Chelsea going into what were the final few moments of the ninety (79’).

The game soon ended with Chelsea having been able to come away with what was a crucial 1 – 0 win in the Premier League against Manchester United, with it further strengthening their ambitions to qualify for the next season’s UEFA Champions League this term with a top five finish in the Premier League table.

Match Stats

This was a game that saw hosts Chelsea not dominate possession, but the two sides did share the ball fairly equally, with the Blues having 46.6% of it, whilst it was the visitors United who got the most possession on the night with 53.4% overall.

Chelsea, with three, had the most shots on target compared with the Red Devils’ one overall. Chelsea had 11 shots in all, whilst Manchester United had 4 over the course of this enthralling Premier League game.

What Enzo Maresca said:

Following this crucial 1 – 0 Premier League victory against Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United, this is what Chelsea Boss Enzo Maresca had to say following this match at Stamford Bridge on Friday evening (via the Official Chelsea Website):

“We’ve said many times that talent alone is not enough. You also need to add the effort. The effort tonight was unbelievable from all of the players. We are happy tonight.

“For me, the club, and the fans, it was an important win. The way I celebrated (at the end of the game) is because we had two games to go and it’s important to win the game.

“I said today to the players, United beat City at home, drew with them at home, drew with Liverpool, drew with Arsenal, they know how to play big games. So it was very difficult to win the game tonight.

“The focus has been on us because we knew that winning both games means we finish well. We won tonight, now it’s not about pressure or anyone else. It’s about us again. We need to be focused, prepare the game in the best way, and try to win the last game.”

Excitement and anticipation are now building ahead of the final day of the 2024/25 Premier League season, where Chelsea will be travelling to the City Ground to take on Nuno Espirito Santo’s high flying Nottingham Forest, who are also looking to secure themselves some UEFA Champions League football for next season.

This game will be taking place on Sunday 25th May 2025, with the game set to get underway simultaneously with the other games on the final day of the 2024/25 Premier League season at 16:00.

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