MATCH REPORT: UNITED BEAT CHELSEA

Beautiful goals from Marcus Rashford and Ander Herrera were enough to give us a 2-0 victory over Chelsea and once again blow the title race wide open with only six games remaining.

Ander Herrera scores the second goal against Chelsea

The boss made four changes to the team that drew against Anderlecht on Thursday night in the Europa League. In came David de Gea in goal as Ashley Young also returned to the starting lineup to captain the side.

Meanwhile Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic dropped to the bench. It's the first time Zlatan had been left on the bench in a league game despite being available; but the boss had earlier cited tiredness due to his last 20 minutes showing in Belgium.

Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard were thus tasked with leading the line against a resilient Chelsea defence. And it was this combination that produced the first real chance of the game after 5 minutes.

Jesse Lingard pressured David Luiz into a mistake and Rashford took advantage only to scuff his shot wide of the target.

Chelsea failed to heed Rashford's speedy runs and were made to pay when again Chelsea were dispossessed in midfield this time by Ander Herrera who quickly lifted his head up to release Rashford with a perfect through ball.

The young striker cooly slotted past Asmir Begovic for his 1st league goal in 20 appearances. That was the first time we had scored a goal before the 21st minute of a game at Old Trafford and it seemed to lift the gloomy Easter mood inside Old Trafford and leave Chelsea shocked.

Marcus Rashford scores the first goal against Chelsea

Chelsea were clearly rocked by United's high pressing and their frustrations were summed up when Diego Costa was booked for a naughty challenge on Paul Pogba.

One could be forgiven to imagine that a lineup without first team members Ibrahimovic, Mata, Mkhitaryan, Carrick, Shaw and Smalling would get a decent result against a Chelsea side that has been top since November 5.

But, not only did United dominate the entire match but also wiped the floor with a Chelsea side that had not lost at Old Trafford in their last 5 visits.

Some more excellent work down the left in the second half by Young exposed the Chelsea backline again, and their tame clearance was bundled home by Ander Herrera albeit via a deflection by Kurt Zouma.

At the back, Eric Bailly and Marcos Rojo were proving a handful for the Chelsea forwards who didn't create any worthy chance throughout. David de Gea could be forgiven for turning up for work despite him being a spectator during large periods of the match.

Rashford celebrates his goal, his 1st in the league in 20 appearances.

On the hour mark, there was a landmark appearance for Michael Carrick as he replaced Jesse Lingard to make his 450th United appearance.

As the action entered it's final 20 minutes, the result never looked in doubt as Chelsea who had lost only 4 games all season appeared to accept their fate.

In truth it was a fairly comfortable win- a first against Chelsea since 2012 and the perfect warm-up to prepare for another crucial encounter against Anderlecht on Thursday.

Arguably, the finest collective performance against a big team since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, that win was enough to lift us into 5th place, only four points behind Manchester City in fourth albeit with a game in hand.

That brilliant performance extends United unbeaten run to 22 matches in the league, the longest run across the top 5 major European leagues.

FULL-TIME MATCH STATS

Possession: United 46% Chelsea 54% Shots: United 9 Chelsea 5 Shots on target: United 3 Chelsea 0 Corners: United 1 Chelsea 3

THE TEAMS:

United: De Gea; Valencia, Bailly, Rojo, Darmian; Fellaini, Herrera; Young (c) (Fosu-Mensah 90+3), Pogba, Lingard (Carrick 60); Rashford (Ibrahimovic 82).

Subs not used: Romero, Blind, Shaw, Mkhitaryan.

Booked: Herrera, Rojo, Ibrahimovic.

Chelsea: Begovic; Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Cahill (c); Moses (Fabregas 54), Kante, Matic (Willian 66), Zouma (Loftus-Cheek 83); Pedro, Diego Costa, Hazard.

Subs not used: Eduardo, Ake, Terry, Batshuayi.

Booked: Diego Costa, Cahill, Fabregas.

Man of the Match: Ander Herrera