London: Champions-elect Chelsea took a significant step towards the Premier League title as Eden Hazard’s first-half goal secured a clinical 1-0 home win over in-form Manchester United yesterday.
United were seeking a seventh consecutive league win, but despite bossing possession, it was Chelsea who prevailed after Hazard sped through to score his 13th goal of the campaign in the 38th minute at Stamford Bridge.
The Belgian’s strike left his side 10 points clear of second-place Arsenal, who welcome Jose Mourinho’s side to the Emirates Stadium next weekend, when another Chelsea win will bring a first title since 2010 within reach.
United’s recent surge had prompted talk of an improbable title tilt, but with Louis van Gaal’s men 11 points below Chelsea having played a game more, automatic Champions League qualification is now their only objective.
And while United’s football suggested there are better days ahead at Old Trafford, it is League Cup winners Chelsea, whose last seven wins have all been by a one-goal margin, who are on the brink of another coronation.
A calf injury to Michael Carrick obliged Wayne Rooney to drop into midfield for the visitors, but it was to the United captain that the first chance of the match fell on a warm, sunny afternoon in west London.
From Ashley Young’s pass, the over-lapping Luke Shaw cut the ball back for Rooney, but the United number 10 shot’s hit the stanchion to the left of the goal and bounced back into the net, fooling the travelling fans at the other end into thinking the deadlock had been broken.
United goalkeeper David de Gea had to toe the ball behind for a corner after Hazard’s pass sent Cesc Fabregas scampering into the box, but for most of the first half, the away team looked serene.
With Ander Herrera assuredly anchoring the midfield, Van Gaal’s men were finding passing triangles all over the pitch and they demonstrated their confidence when Paddy McNair advanced and saw a shot deflected wide. An uninformed observer would perhaps have been forgiven for thinking it was United, and not Chelsea, who were on the verge of the title, but seven minutes before half-time, the hosts went in front.AFP
London: Alexis Sanchez sent holders Arsenal back to the FA Cup final as the Chile winger benefitted from Reading goalkeeper Adam Federici’s howler to seal a 2-1 win at Wembley yesterday.
Arsene Wenger’s team struggled to impose themselves on their Championship opponents for much of a tense semi-final and were forced into extra-time after Garath McCleary struck in the second half to cancel out Sanchez’s opener.
The Gunners avoided the lottery of a penalty shoot-out thanks to a gift from Australian international Federici, who allowed Sanchez’s shot to slip agonisingly through his grasp in the first period of extra-time.
Arsenal’s competition-record 19th FA Cup final appearance will be against Liverpool or Aston Villa, who meet in the second semi-final on Sunday.
Wenger had warned his players to heed the lesson of last season’s FA Cup semi-final victory, when they needed a penalty shoot-out to see off second-tier Wigan, but they clearly didn’t take his message on board. A day that would end in abject misery for Federici had started promisingly as he got down at his near-post to keep out Per Mertesacker’s header.
The Royals have slumped to 19th in the second tier table and were playing in the semi-finals for the first time in 88 years.
Yet although Mesut Ozil went close with a curling free-kick, Arsenal, rendered impotent by Reading’s relentless pressing, were well short of the sparkling form they had showed in winning 16 of their previous 18 matches.
Wenger’s side eventually broke the deadlock in the 39th minute with a fine goal out of character with the rest of their rather tepid performance.
Ozil took possession 30 yards from goal and, sensing that only a speedy delivery would unhinge Reading’s massed defence, unfurled a perfect first-time pass towards Sanchez. AFP
