Manchester United confirm Champions League return with 4-1 win over Chelsea, watch

It hasn’t always gone smoothly for Erik ten Haag in his first year in charge at Manchester United. There is still a lot of work to be done to restore the 20-time league champions to their former glory.

But on Thursday night, in front of a packed Old Trafford, Ten Haag achieved his “main objective” of securing a return to the Champions League with a 4-1 win against Chelsea. “It’s a successful season but the season is not over,” he said. “This club is in the Champions League, so you have to qualify in the first four. We played a good season in the Premier League. I think the season went very well.”

Goals from Casemiro, Anthony Martial, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford earned United the win, which means a top-four finish is now a certainty. United went into third and the season finale two points above Newcastle. It could get even better for Ten Haag, having lifted its first ever trophy – the League Cup – in February. United will face Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley on 3 June.

Here are the highlights of Manchester United’s win over Chelsea…

Cutting through accurate defense _@Casemiro , @sanchooo10 , @AnthonyMartial ,#MUFC , @RemingtonUK— Manchester United (@ManUtd) May 25, 2023

Where silverware adds luster to an encouraging debut season under the Dutch coach, qualification for the Champions League has been the ultimate measure by which iconic former manager Alex Ferguson’s predecessors have been judged during the 10 years since his retirement. David Moyes and Louis van Gaal were fired after failing to qualify for European football’s elite competition.

Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer departed when the team’s form meant qualification was in serious doubt. Ten Haag was hired last year to turn United’s fortunes around, and while he has had his share of difficulties in an eventful first year in English football, he has done just that.

Needing just a point from their last two games of the season, first-half goals from Casemiro and Martial put United on course for victory against Chelsea, ensuring that it would be too late to move to arch-rivals Liverpool. . United’s win ensures Liverpool will finish fifth with a Europa League spot, which Mohamed Salah said is not good enough. The Liverpool forward tweeted he was ‘devastated’.

Jubilant scene at Old Trafford

The jubilant scenes at Old Trafford were accompanied by significant setbacks around the world – a 6-3 defeat to Manchester City and as recently as March an embarrassing 7-0 defeat by Liverpool. Ten Haag faced disruption due to Cristiano Ronaldo publicly criticizing the club before his acrimonious departure in November, as well as injuries to key players such as Martial, Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martínez.

Through it all, the former Ajax coach has remained focused on the goal of a top-four finish and his long-term vision of rebuilding a club has taken a hit since Ferguson’s departure. And Ten Haag took the opportunity to remind United that they are still some way from challenging City’s Premier League dominance after Pep Guardiola’s side won their fifth title in six years this season.

He wants to return to the transfer market in the summer when a top striker will be his priority. “It’s a good base to build on, but standards have to go up, demands have to go up,” he said. “We have work to do with this squad over the summer but also in the window. See if you can strengthen the squad. Now we are far away so we have a lot of work to do. We make progress, but we need better players if we want to compete at the highest level.

United were too good for Chelsea on Thursday. Needing a point from their last two games to qualify for the Champions League, it went ahead in the sixth minute when Casemiro headed in Christian Eriksen’s free kick.

Mykhailo Mudrik misfired

Mykhaylo Mudrik should have put Chelsea ahead earlier, but the $108 million signing was a complete failure and only beat goalkeeper David de Gea. Martial doubled United’s lead in first-half stoppage time and Fernandes added the third from the penalty spot in the 73rd after being brought down by Wesley Fofana.

It got worse for Fofana and Chelsea when the defender’s errant pass was intercepted and substitute Rashford added a fourth five minutes later. Another substitute Alejandro Garnacho hit the bar late on as United went in search of another.

Chelsea substitute Joao Felix scored a consolation in the 89th but it was another miserable night for the Londoners, who have now lost eight of their 10 games under interim manager Frank Lampard. “It’s a bad year for the club,” said Lampard. “The important thing is that you get to the bottom of how it improves.”

One concern for United was a first-half injury to Antony, which Ten Haag described as serious, while Luke Shaw also had to come off at halftime.