Chelsea beat Man U. on Sunday evening, shutting up the mouth of Antonio
Conte’s critics, following their inconsistent Premier league title
defense this season.
Jose Mourinho, started with a defensive line up of Jones, Smalling
and Eric Bailly while his wing-backs were Valencia and Young while
Chelsea started with Fabregas, Kante and Bakayoko in midfield to close
Man U’s ranks.

The match started with quick exchange of free flowing football from
both sides and it wasn’t quick before the ball found itself into the
net.

Oops . Phil Jones scored an own goal? No! The referee awarded a foul
after Alvaro Morata pushed Jones which resulted in the defender putting
the ball into his own net.
Man U then went on the counter, Ashley Young crossed the ball into the
18 yard box and Rashford’s header just flopped across the net.
The match had adrenaline packed into it all through and a quick counter
from Chelsea resulted in Bakayoko wrongly shooting the ball into the
skies.
Bakayoko had another chance to make amends with another opportunity in
the first 15 minutes and his shot clipped the foot of Bailly resulting
in a corner.
Stamford Bridge was electrifying- no one knew what to expect, serious
end to end action. Both teams wanted the ball and both teams fought for
it!
Man U attacked, Lukaku shot, Courtois punched, Ashley Young shot, defender blocked, the reds were on the ascendancy.
Hazard shot a thunderous ball which was wonderfully saved De Gea,
wow! The resulting ball was headed towards the side net Cesc
Fabregas.
Bakayoko had plenty of touches but his lack of sensible penetration and
accurate passes in the midfield zone showed how much Chelsea missed
Matic.
Man U, new masters of ‘shutting up shop’, ensured that Chelsea were
limited to forays outside the 18 yard box with no real penetration.
In terms of possession, there was nothing much between both teams but
Chelsea were the more positive team in terms of advances forward, at
least for the last twenty minutes as Man U had only 1 touch in the
penalty area through out the first half.
Halftime-
Chelsea 0-0 Man U
The
second half started with no substitutions for both sides, and Chelsea
fans must have expected more action from  their team in this half.
Attack upon attack, the Blues came at Man U, Hazard’s shot calmly saved De Gea, at a time when Man U’s defense looked shaky.
Then in the 54th minute, Morata!!!
Azpilicueta started the counter for Chelsea, and his cross found
Morata’s head, whose stunning header left De Gea dumbfounded much to the
delight of coach, Antonio Conte.
Chelsea 1-0 Man U
The
stadium erupted! Mourinho brought out his note pad, the Portuguese
tactician had been a master of useful substitutions this season, but
could he do it again, against a vibrant Chelsea side?
Mourinho introduced Fellaini and Martial, removed Jones and
Mhikitaryan, changing his shape to a back four, with Rashford and
Martial operating through the wings while Herrera man marked Eden
Hazard.
The midfield battles began, Matic, Alonso, Fabregas, Herrera, Fellaini, the battle for short and long balls became epic.
Chelsea introduced Rudiger to hold onto their lone goal- the reds were not going to lose without a fight.
With
15 minutes to go, United were with only one shot in the 18 yard box,
Lukaku was quiet and dormant, his lone striker game wasn’t holding any
water .
Fellaini sloppily lost the ball and Bakayoko capitalized on it but his
final ball, was missing. A minute later, Eden Hazard shoots, and De Gea
saved the ball.
Chelsea continued pressing, it looked like Jones removal from the match
exposed Man U’s defense to forays from Chelsea’s attackers. Morata and
Hazard proved a handful for Bailly and Smalling then Mourinho tried to
go for the jugular, removed wing back, Ashley Young, for attacker, Jesse
Lingard. Would this move pay off with roughly 10minutes to play?
Man
U attacked but Rashford’s cross wasn’t met either Fellaini or
Courtois. Man U had forays of attacks then Rashford’s blistering shot
slightly missed target.
Three minutes to go, all the onus were on United and Lukaku looked so confused leading the line for the Reds.
Fellaini shoots m, Courtois saves, Matic crosses , Fellaini misses
again. Desperate times for Man Utd. Four minutes extra times .
Man U attacked upon attack upon attack. Chelsea had a break and Morata
flopped a one on one situation with De Gea. Man U had a free kick with
one minute to go but Rashford’s free kick got deflected as a corner.
Chelsea ran out as eventual winners during a thrilling night in London.
source: L.Ikeji