Man Utd 1-0

Independent:
Manchester United 0 Chelsea 1
Chelsea show steel to put goal within touch
Champions League qualification hopes greatly enhanced after impressive victory

Sam Wallace

He cut an unusual figure on Sunday, walking off on his own toward the Old Trafford tunnel: jeered by the Manchester United fans, too unpopular to risk going anywhere near the Chelsea fans. Rafa Benitez was on his own again but life at Chelsea can rarely have felt so good for him.

A win secured in the last three minutes of normal time means that a victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday will deliver Chelsea the Champions League football that Benitez was tasked with delivering when he took over the club in November. Throw in the Europa League final in nine days' time and you understand why some pragmatists in the Chelsea hierarchy think that he would make a good long-term manager if it were not for, well, you know what.
A dreadful game with a rousing conclusion, Mata's shot found its way in past Anders Lindegaard via Phil Jones before Rafael Da Silva was sent off for a very unwise kick aimed at the back of David Luiz's legs in the closing stages. A setback for the young United right-back who has matured considerably this season but at least you could call it progress of sorts. He used to get sent off in games of note, at least now he confines it to the ones that do not matter.
Unfortunately for Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, who desperately needed United to stop Chelsea winning at the very least, Sir Alex Ferguson's team have run out of steam. Even before they secured the title a fortnight ago today they had already been on the decline for a while and now they are simply going through the motions. If Arsène Wenger hoped for something in return today for the sale of Robin van Persie, then he will have been disappointed.
Ferguson's own indictment of his team's performance said it all. They had, he said, "taken their foot off the pedal" there was "no edge". That he would blithely admit to that said it all really, United are cruising to the end of the season and there is little that anyone, including their manager, can do to change that.
It will be painful for Chelsea's two London neighbours who are trying to compete for the last two Champions League places but even so, you have to admire the steel of this team. Last season they rescued a Champions League place by winning the damn thing; this season they have fought their way back into contention. That refusal to let it go characterises this squad.
Beat Spurs on Wednesday and Chelsea's superior goal difference will surely see them through to one of the two Champions League places, whatever happens in the final two matches of the season. As for Benitez he has eliminated United from the FA Cup after a replay and now beaten them at Old Trafford in the league – it would be unbearable for his old foe Ferguson were it not for that trophy awaiting his collection on Sunday.
Ferguson bemoaned Howard Webb's performance but it was Chelsea who felt the most aggrieved by the referee until the closing stages. Yet even Ferguson did not complain about the tackle on Wayne Rooney, a second-half substitute, that began the sequence that ended with the heavily deflected winner.
It was a tidy challenge from Ramires to hook the ball away from Rooney on the edge of the area, and there was contact, although it looked more like the United man running his leg into his opponent. While Chelsea moved the ball forward quickly, United did briefly win it back and then lose possession again before Ramires, tireless, got it back and, via Oscar, the ball reached Mata on the left side of the box.
The Premier League, grumpy killjoys that they are, gave it as a Jones own goal just minutes after the end of the game. Replays were inconclusive but Mata's shot did seem to be running wide of Lindegaard's left post before it flicked off the United man and into the far corner of the goal.
The red card incident between Rafael and Luiz took place right under the nose of Sian Massey, the assistant, who correctly judged that the nasty little kick by the younger Brazilian was a dismissal. In mitigation, Luiz twice thrust an elbow into the chest of his opponent as he stepped across him, attempting to shepherd the ball out of play.
In the aftermath, while still on the ground, Luiz appeared to crack a smile. What he meant by it was hard to divine. It may have looked a bit sneaky but it did not change the fact that Rafael, however much he had been provoked, had lashed out in a fashion that was certain to earn him a red card. It was his fault. Oscar did not help himself by waving imaginary cards. That set off Ryan Giggs who risked a booking himself by waving imaginary cards in an attempt to show Webb what Oscar's transgression had been.
By that stage we were already in injury time and United's sudden desperation to win the game seemed a bit too late to be taken seriously. They had barely created a chance in the entire second half.
Instead, the biggest moment before the goal had fallen for Mata who had failed to get his head on a very inviting cross from the right by Frank Lampard. That was about as good as it got, although one break in which Chelsea outnumbered United's defenders was well stopped by Jones' tackle on Ashley Cole.
On the touchline, John Terry, also left out the side for the Europa League semi-final second leg on Thursday found himself a peripheral figure once again. He will be desperate to play against Spurs on Wednesday but there are no guarantees. There was no contact between him and Rio Ferdinand, also an unused substitute yesterday, but Rooney stopped for a chat while Terry stretched by the side of the pitch.
Petr Cech scarcely had a shot to save all match, with or without Rooney on the pitch. Lindegaard pushed an Oscar shot on to the post in the 14th minute. Jonny Evans was lucky to get away with grabbing Demba Ba's shirt shortly afterwards. It was the first time that United had failed to score in the league since December 2009. Chelsea were far from perfect but, as Benitez knows, it is the wins that count.

Match details
Goal. Chelsea: Jones og 87
Substitutions: Manchester United Buttner 5 (Cleverley, 68), Rooney 5 (Anderson, 69), Hernandez (Valencia, 90). Chelsea Torres (Moses, 76), Ake (Mata, 90).
Booked: Manchester United Vidic, Jones. Chelsea Luiz.
Sent-off: Manchester United Rafael (89).
Man of the match Mata. Match rating 7/10.
Possession: Manchester Utd 51%. Chelsea 49%.
Attempts on target: Manchester Utd 4. Chelsea 6.
Referee H Webb (South Yorkshire).
Attendance 75,000.

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Guardian:
Chelsea beat Manchester United as Juan Mata gets help from Phil Jones

There's only one team in Europe, the Chelsea fans reminded their Manchester United counterparts throughout this game, proving that even the much-maligned Europa League has its uses. It is still Champions League qualification that matters most, especially with a new manager to recruit, and three points from one of Old Trafford's tamer afternoons courtesy of their deflected but deserved winner returned Chelsea to third place before Wednesday's showdown against Spurs at Stamford Bridge.
Rafael Benítez will be keen to have Eden Hazard back for that game. The Belgian failed a late fitness test on a calf strain and his creativity was missed. Even without him Chelsea managed to be more creative than United, who failed to score at home for the first time in 67 league matches. They also had a player sent off for the first time this season, though until Oscar picked out Juan Mata with a splendid pass four minutes from time it appeared neither side would be imaginative or committed enough to deserve all three points.
Just about the only time Mata put a foot wrong was in claiming afterwards that the occasion had been "like a final". It was hardly that. Petr Cech was on firmer ground when he said it had been a strange, end-of-season game. "The pace was quite a bit slower than usual but we did really well to come here and win," the goalkeeper said. While Mata's shot may end up being credited as an own goal by Phil Jones, it would never have happened without the Spaniard's ability to find space and his team-mates' willingness to keep going to the very end of a long season.
"We cannot give up now," Mata said. "Our aim is to finish third and we can do that if we keep winning. That's what we must do because I think we deserve to be in the Champions League next season."
Chelsea showed marginally the more enterprise in a tepid first half, with Mata picking out Demba Ba with crosses on a couple of occasions, Victor Moses shooting too high with a decent chance and Oscar almost catching the home defence out with a run and a low shot that Anders Lindegaard could only touch on to a post.
United waited until the stroke of half-time to get Robin van Persie on to the end of anything, though once they managed to find him he was unlucky not to put his side in front. An instinctive first touch to a terrific through ball from Ryan Giggs surprised Cech but curled just the wrong side of a post. He then headed straight at the goalkeeper from a Nemanja Vidic cross.
United's other main chance to take an interval lead came when Cech parried a cross straight to Tom Cleverley on the edge of the area, yet with a better opportunity than he possibly realised the fringe player lacked the composure to take advantage, shooting early and blazing over the bar.
Chelsea might have had a penalty at the start of the second half when Giggs hauled down David Luiz as he entered the area. Howard Webb waved away their claims, which seemed reasonable as the offence seemed to originate outside the box, though it appeared overly generous of the referee not even to award a free-kick.
Despite the introductions of Wayne Rooney and Fernando Torres, the game was petering out feebly in the second half, with United happy enough to settle for a second successive draw. Chelsea's lack of urgency was harder to understand, though it turned out they were merely biding their time.
The buildup to the goal began on the edge of their own penalty area, with Ramires cleanly dispossessing Rooney; then, as the ball was worked upfield through Ramires and Frank Lampard, United made the mistake of leaving Mata unmarked in the box. Oscar spotted him and supplied him, and a low shot that took a deflection off Jones beat Lindegaard's dive to creep in off the far post.
"It was a bit of a lucky goal, going in off Phil Jones," said Sir Alex Ferguson at his curmudgeonly best, though at least the United manager did not dispute Ramires's tackle on Rooney, or indeed the result. "We took our foot off the pedal so we can't complain," Ferguson said. "We didn't play well enough to deserve anything."
Any hope United had of answering back disappeared with the hot-tempered Rafael Da Silva when the full-back was dismissed for kicking out at David Luiz. The Chelsea defender, not entirely innocent in the coming together that provoked Da Silva's petulance, was seen smirking to himself as he lay clutching his knees by the corner flag after checking to see that the referee had produced a red card.
Ferguson was not best pleased. "He was elbowed but I don't think the referee saw that," he said. "All he saw was Luiz rolling around on the floor like a diving swan." Yet for once Ferguson was not the centre of the story, and even more unusually his team were not the one with the most desire. This was another stealthy but significant victory for Benítez. Something else that will stand out on what even Ferguson must now admit is quite an impressive CV, even if is he in the habit of mentioning it too often.
Man of the match Juan Mata (Chelsea)

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Telegraph:

Manchester United 0 Chelsea 1
By Henry Winter, Old Trafford

Chelsea had the last laugh here. Juan Mata struck a late deflected winner, David Luiz smirked as Rafael da Silva was dismissed and Rafael
Benítez got one over on his old feuding partner, Sir Alex Ferguson. Mata, Luiz and Benítez certainly left Old Trafford all smiles.
This was a hugely significant moment in Chelsea’s pursuit of Champions League football. For 86 minutes this was a stupefying game, a match littered with misplaced passes, inaccurate shooting and a lack of urgency more likely to stir demand for Prozac than Prozone. But then Mata intervened, his shot going in off Phil Jones.
The simple stats are that Chelsea are now third with 68 points and a game in hand over Arsenal, who lie a place and a point behind. Victory over Spurs, fifth with 65 points, on Wednesday guarantees Chelsea’s seat at Europe’s top table next term. This was a momentous win for Benítez, whose job as interim manager has been to ensure qualification for the Champions League.
Chelsea fans will never take to the former leader of Liverpool’s fortunes, a man perceived to have once disparaged them, but the Manager of the Month for April is fulfilling the demands of the owner, Roman Abramovich. Success in the Europa League final will make Benítez even more employable to another club. Chelsea were not at their best on Sunday but they had Mata, who never stopped trying to find a way through.
Frank Lampard worked hard in midfield, captaining the side with John Terry on the bench. The Stretford End noticed Terry warming up, serenading him in toxic fashion as he ran towards them. Benítez and Robin van Persie also had to endure some offensive chants from parts of the ground.
United will not fret unduly about this defeat, certainly not as much as followers of Arsenal and Spurs, who cannot have been impressed by a below-par performance from a below-strength team. Ferguson had joked that he would refuse his players’ permission to go to Chester races on Wednesday if they slipped up here. They were certainly not at the races on Sunday, failing to score for the first time in 67 home matches in the Premier League, dating back to December 2009.
Tom Cleverley and Anderson were granted opportunities to shine in attacking midfield positions but neither responded with sufficient vigour or precision. Michael Carrick’s composure was much-missed. Antonio Valencia still does not seem to have realised that Wilfried Zaha arrives shortly from Crystal Palace. Van Persie looked less threatening without Wayne Rooney supplying him, although when the England international finally came on he swiftly acclimatised to the game’s mediocrity by twice giving the ball away.
The title won, United were inevitably going to lack sufficient intensity but this was still a timid response, still a contrast to Ferguson’s bullish programme notes, in which he predicted that if his team applied themselves in their “normal fashion” they could enjoy “another decade of success”.
Ferguson added that he did not have “any plans at the moment to walk away from what I believe will be something special and worth being around to see!” There was little special to distract the 75,500 until late on. It felt like the Community Shield for a long periods.
Jones did anchor well and made some decent runs. Cleverley shot wide. Chelsea were missing Eden Hazard, who got no further than the directors’ box, nursing a tight calf, but they did enjoy better chances. Chelsea wanted it more. They needed it more. Oscar shot hard at goal in classic futsal fashion, poking it at speed. Anders Lindegaard, seeing it late, pushed it onto a post and was fortunate it rebounded into his arms.
On the game meandered. Lampard’s 25-yarder bounced awkwardly but was gathered by Lindegaard. Mata was beginning to threaten, prompting a late challenge from Cleverley for which the Englishman somehow escaped censure.
United perked up briefly before the break. Van Persie met Ryan Giggs’s superb pass but shot wide. Nemanja Vidic then popped up on the left, cutting the ball back but Van Persie’s header was held by Petr Cech.
An element of controversy seeped into the game early in the second half. Giggs got away with pulling Luiz’s shirt just outside the box.
On it went, distinctly undistinguished fare. Lampard shot over. Mata buried a free-kick into the wall. Finally, with some fans leaving, the game sprung to life. Rooney, who had replaced Anderson after 69 minutes, shouted at Howard Webb that he had been fouled by Ramires. In fact, it was Rooney who made contact with Ramires’s foot.
Ramires and then Lampard raced upfield with the ball. United still had opportunities to resist Chelsea. Jonny Evans’s clearance, helped on by Giggs, was picked off by Mata. As the Spaniard scampered down the inside-left channel, Ramires took over, deciding against shooting and advancing to the edge of the area. United were back-pedalling as blue shirts swarmed forward. Ramires back-heeled the ball to Oscar, who calmly angled it across to the unmarked Mata. He took aim left-footed, his low shot clipped Jones and eluded Lindegaard.
It had to be Mata the catalyst. As so often this strange season, Mata had been Chelsea’s guiding light during the preceding exceedingly gloomy 86 minutes. The Premier League spoilsports promptly put out a missive saying it was a Jones own-goal.
As Chelsea celebrated, United seethed. As the game nudged injury time, Rafael lost his composure, reacting aggressively to Luiz’s strong-arm attempts to fend him off. Luiz was culpable, swinging his arm twice at his compatriot, but nothing could forgive Rafael’s response. His temper boiling over, Rafael snapped and kicked out at Luiz, catching him lightly on the right calf. Luiz reacted as if struck by a breaker on the Copacabana, tumbling down, clutching his leg. “He went down like he’d been shot,’’ was the verdict of MUTV.
Luiz rolled one way and then the other. As Sian Massey stood there, waving her flag to signal the foul, a smirk spread across Luiz’s face. Some of his team-mates called on Webb to punish Rafael with a card. Red decreed the referee. Vidic attempted to console Rafael, who threw his arm up in annoyance as he walked towards the tunnel. Luiz continued to smile.
So, too, were all of the Chelsea contingent as the final whistle went four minutes later, laughing all the way south.

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Times:

Juan Mata on target as Chelsea catch United napping

Oliver Kay

Manchester United 0 Chelsea 1

For long periods at Old Trafford yesterday, it was like watching two old boxers going through the motions — one with nothing left to prove this season, the other with nothing left to give. It took Juan Mata’s shot, deflected in off Phil Jones with three minutes remaining, to break the tedium and to allow Chelsea to take a giant step forward in their pursuit of Champions League qualification.
It was as if Chelsea and the game as a whole had been administered a much-needed adrenalin shot. The weariness that had them weighed down to that point was forgotten as they charged forward to mob Mata in celebration. As for Manchester United’s players, their listlessness was replaced by a hitherto absent sense of fight — rather too much of it in the case of Rafael Da Silva, who was sent off in the final moments of the game for a wild lunge on David Luiz, his Brazil team-mate.
Suddenly it was a very different occasion — the predictable pushing, shoving and finger-pointing that surrounded the Rafael red card as Luiz lay on the floor, chuckling to himself, and, moments later, the euphoria that overcame Chelsea’s players at the final whistle. From wondering whether this might go down as an opportunity missed, Rafael Benítez and his players returned to the dressing room realising that they can all but guarantee Champions League qualification by beating Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday.
In a season characterised by turmoil of the club’s own making, Chelsea should be satisfied by the possibility of securing Champions League qualification and, making the best of a bad situation, victory over Benfica in the Europa League final in Amsterdam next week. This was their 65th match in all competitions this season — United have had 52, Manchester City 50, Arsenal 51, Spurs 51 — and, while their efforts seemed to be catching up with them yesterday, they persisted long enough to earn the slice of luck that brought the goal.
It helped that they were playing a United team who, by Ferguson’s admission, appear to have “taken our foot off the pedal in a big way” since securing the Barclays Premier League title a fortnight ago. This was an end-of-season performance from the champions and, it must be said, an end-of-season team selection from Ferguson, who would certainly not have rested David De Gea, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney for a match against Chelsea had there been more at stake for his team.
The thoughts of André Villas-Boas will be interesting, given that the Spurs head coach had suggested, with more than a passing interest in this match, that he expected “Chelsea to have a very difficult game and for United to be at the top of theirs.” United were nowhere near the level they had reached in winning the title with four matches to spare. Benítez suggested that this was inevitable.
Still, he must have been grateful to see Anderson and Tom Cleverley so far off the pace in central midfield. Both performed so poorly that it felt sad that the Old Trafford crowd was denied the chance to witness a return to action for Paul Scholes, back on the substitutes’ bench for the first time since January, with retirement perhaps looming again.
Chelsea made the early running, with an Oscar cross exposing the nerve of Anders Lindegaard in the sixth minute. Lindegaard saved from the same player soon afterwards, pushing his shot onto the post, but otherwise the goalkeeper was grateful for Chelsea’s lack of quality in the final third as Victor Moses, Demba Ba and Oscar all missed the target with speculative efforts before half-time.
At the other end, United offered remarkably little. Branislav Ivanovic and Luiz deserve credit for Robin Van Persie’s subdued performance, but the service to the forward was poor. With the exception of a clever pass from Ryan Giggs, which Van Persie clipped just wide of Petr Cech’s right-hand post late in the first half, United’s was a performance devoid of wit as well as energy.
With Rooney on the bench, United had no player to match the roaming threat of Mata, who, even when he looks tired, has the ability to play passes that others would not even consider. Part of his excellence is in the timing of his passes, as he laid off balls from which Frank Lampard and Ramires threatened as they took turns to break from midfield, where they had been quick to establish control.
Ferguson sent on Rooney and Alexander Büttner for Anderson and Cleverley, but United remained off-key, barely threatening beyond a Rafael cross that was deflected into the side-netting by Ivanovic. At that point Chelsea seemed to be tiring, but, with Fernando Torres joining Ba in attack, they found the momentum for one final push.
And then Rooney was tackled — he felt he was fouled — by Ramires and the ball was moved via Oscar to Mata, who attempted a low left-foot shot. The ball seemed to be going wide, but Jones’s deflection took it inside the post. Now the temperature rose, on the pitch and in the stands, as Rafael saw red for hacking at Luiz, a stupid kick that cannot be excused by any provocation or subsequent reaction from the Chelsea defender.
At the end, as beforehand, Benítez and Ferguson shook hands — progress from their FA Cup meeting on the same ground in March. If the Chelsea interim manager is as “concerned with his CV” as Ferguson suggested on Friday, he will have been keen to update it again last night with another victory over United to go with another European final.
By the middle of next week he might be able to add “Champions League qualification” and “Europa League winner” with Chelsea. That would constitute a job well done before handing over to José Mourinho or whoever. Something for the CV, certainly.

Manchester United (4-1-4-1): A Lindegaard 4 — Rafael Da Silva 5, J Evans 6, N Vidic 6, P Evra 6 — P Jones 6 — A Valencia 4 (sub: J Hernández 90), Anderson 4 (sub: W Rooney 69, 4), T Cleverley 4 (sub: A Buttner 69, 4), R Giggs 5 — R van Persie 5. Substitutes not used: D De Gea, R Ferdinand, P Scholes, S Kagawa. Booked: Vidic, Jones. Sent off: Rafael.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): P Cech 6 — C Azpilicueta 7, B Ivanovic 7, D Luiz 8, A Cole 6 — Ramires 7, F Lampard 7 — V Moses 6 (sub: F Torres 76), J Mata 7 (sub: N Ake 90), Oscar 6 — D Ba 4. Substitutes not used: R Turnbull, P Ferreira, G Cahill, J Terry, Y Benayoun. Booked: Luiz.
Referee: H Webb. Attendance: 75,500.

 

 

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Mail:

Man United 0 Chelsea 1: Rafa has the last laugh as Mata keeps Blues on course for Europe and Rafael sees red for hacking Luiz

By Ian Ladyman

Rafa Benitez walked off the pitch at Old Trafford looking as satisfied as he has perhaps ever done during his difficult months in charge of this capricious Chelsea team. Victories over Sir Alex Ferguson have, after all, become very important to him.
What is more crucial for Benitez and Chelsea now, though, is that they are within touching distance of turning another up-and-down season into something that would look more than adequate on the c.v. Ferguson believes is so important to the Spaniard.
Having endured so much since being handed the unfortunate title of ‘interim manager’ in November, Benitez is two games away from what he will see as vindication of his appointment and, indeed, his methods.
Victory over Tottenham in front of the Chelsea fans who so loathe him at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night will see last season’s Champions League winners virtually confirmed in next autumn’s competition. Victory in the Europa League final against Benfica in Amsterdam on Wednesday week, meanwhile, will bring Benitez a trophy.
Chelsea fans will never afford Benitez any credit. From that point of view, he was floating in the Thames the moment he replaced Roberto Di Matteo. But don’t let them tell you Sunday’s victory didn’t mean anything to them.
With 87 minutes gone, this game was drifting towards a dreary, scoreless conclusion. Games between these two teams rarely leave you feeling completely empty, though, and sure enough the incident and the controversy arrived just before everyone went home.
Wayne Rooney was involved in the first contentious incident. Leading a United counter-attack with a few minutes left, Rooney, on as a substitute, was tackled by Chelsea midfielder Ramires and immediately set off after referee Howard Webb demanding a free-kick.
Unfortunately for Rooney, Chelsea’s break up the field moved more quickly even than he did and when Ramires drove towards the top of the penalty area it became clear United were in trouble.
As players moved left and right of him, the Brazilian had a range of options and took the right one, back-heeling the ball to Oscar 20 yards from goal. The subsequent pass left to the incoming Juan Mata gave the Spaniard plenty of time and his shot, though less than  perfectly struck, skimmed across goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard and into the far corner with the help of a deflection off Phil Jones.
Replays showed that Ramires may indeed have caught Rooney in making the initial challenge and that Mata’s shot would have gone wide had it not been for the touch off Jones, who was credited with an own goal.
As unfortunate as that was for the United player, it was not the main talking point of the closing stages, having been quickly usurped by a bizarre all-Brazilian altercation by the far corner flag.
Certainly United full back Rafael could not complain about the red card he received for kicking wildly at David Luiz in added time. He may only be 22 but Rafael has been in the Premier League long enough to know that you can’t kick  opponents up the backside and expect to stay on the field.
Luiz’s contribution before and after Rafael’s impetuosity is deserving of the scrutiny it will no doubt now receive, though.
The swing of the elbow across Rafael’s chest as the two contested possession was reminiscent of the one he aimed at Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero in last month’s FA Cup semi-final. On that occasion, Aguero reacted with a stamp on the Chelsea player’s thigh, proving that as an act intended to provoke  retaliation it has some merit.
Here, though, Luiz went a step further, rolling on the ground with a smile on his face just long enough to see the red card appear in Webb’s hand. Then, just for good measure, he rolled around some more.
Play-acting has long been part of our game, of course. Luiz is not the only one. This was an extreme case, though, and maybe someone will have a word with the defender before he becomes as well known for a lack of moral fibre as for the marvellous long-range shots he has recently been firing off across the length and breadth of the country.
After the final whistle, only one manager claimed to have seen the incident. To no one’s surprise, it was Ferguson. Benitez even stopped the Sky interviewer in  mid-sentence when he bravely tried to describe it to him.
He will care only about the result, and why not? He will not be at Chelsea next season and perhaps feels it is not his job to educate the club’s players.
What he will care about is another victory over Ferguson, his third of the season. On the whole it was just about deserved.
The United manager made some peculiar team changes and, as such, it was predictable that Chelsea would make the running.
It was largely a poor game but Oscar did force Lindegaard to push a toe-poke on to the post early on, while Victor Moses shot over by a remarkable distance from just 20 yards soon after.
For United, Ryan Giggs stood out as his team’s best player. One pass for Robin van Persie late in the first half was sublime. Over the piece, United lacked energy and drive, though, their performance as limp as the handshake between the managers that preceded the game.
The Ferguson-Benitez sideshow has become tedious in recent weeks, reflecting well on nobody. We shall at least be spared that next season, and we will be grateful.

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Mirror:

Man United 0-1 Chelsea:
Rafael red-card row overshadows late Mata winner
   
Martin Lipton

Job almost done for Rafa Benitez. And no more pleasurable way for him to do it than by beating his gravest foe.
Chelsea supporters may be counting down the days to Benitez’s departure, but the Spaniard is surely set to leave a Champions League legacy for his successor to enjoy, whatever happens in Amsterdam next week.
Juan Mata’s late strike – his 19th goal of a terrific campaign – did more than give Benitez a win to savour against his most bitter ­managerial opponent, Sir Alex Ferguson’s handshakes offered with gritted teeth.
Far more importantly, as Manchester United played like a side already thinking of their summer holidays, it means victory over Tottenham on Wednesday and the Blues are guaranteed a top-four finish.
Frank Lampard’s clenched-fist salute at the final whistle was proof of what this meant for Chelsea.
No matter that Fergie fielded a half-strength side, Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick among those rested. It was still United, still Old Trafford, still a game that Chelsea simply had to win.
And win it they did, ­deservedly, with Mata, the stand-out performer on the park, doing what he has done so many times this term, ensuring the heat is on Andre Villa-Boas, not his latest ­Stamford Bridge successor.
That Chelsea were rightful winners, too, was not in doubt. Even Ferguson, blaming David Luiz for Rafael’s silly late dismissal, conceded that.
Yet in all honestly, before Mata’s crucial intervention three minutes from time, it was all eminently ­forgettable.
Chelsea missed the cutting edge of calf-victim Eden Hazard, Fergie left out half of his first-choice team, neither side played with any great passion or intensity.
All through, though, Benitez’s men had more about them, more purpose, more commitment.
That happens when one side has something tangible to play for, while the other has long since achieved its targets.
Until the late show, it seemed that all of Mata’s scheming would go unrewarded.
Demba Ba miscued an early header from the little Spaniard, then allowed himself to be blocked by Rafael after Anders Lindegaard – one of the five changes – failed to hold a Mata teaser.
Lindegaard did do far better when Chelsea caught United in a classic counter-attack as Lampard fed Oscar.
The Brazilian saw the huge hole abandoned by Patrice Evra and raced through it, going to the edge of the box as Nemanja Vidic back-pedalled, before his right-footer was palmed on to the foot of the post by the Danish keeper.
Soon afterwards, Victor Moses scooped wastefully over the top after Ramires and Mata had linked up.
United, belatedly, looked to respond. Anderson’s touch was woeful from a delicate pass by Ryan Giggs, with the Brazilian midfielder then vitally edged out of making contact with Phil Jones’ low ball in front of goal by the alert Cesar Azpilicueta.
The half ended with Tom Cleverley blazing over and Robin van Persie nudging wide as he tried to divert Giggs’ ball home first-time.
Hopes of an improvement were not forthcoming, Chelsea the more progressive without having a clinical edge.
Lampard shot over under pressure from Jones – who was full of endeavour, but offered no great imagination in midfield – and Mata was a fraction away from applying the killer touch to the England veteran’s floated cross.
Rafael, teased in by Giggs, saw his cross-shot ping off the back of defender Branislav Ivanovic’s heel and into the side-netting, but it all seemed to be petering out.
Then, out of nothing, Chelsea struck. Ramires robbed Rooney outside the Blues’ box, as the Scouser demanded a foul from referee Howard Webb.
The counter-attack appeared to have been stalled before Mata picked up a loose Jonny Evans clearance and fed Ramires.
Oscar took over, rolling to the left, and while Mata’s shot flicked off Jones, Lindegaard, slamming his palms into the ground in what might be his farewell appearance, was unable to prevent it beating him off the inside of his left-hand post.
Still time for Rafael to see red for a frustration kick at Luiz – responding to an outstretched elbow, but still petulant – that sparked a bout of ­handbags.
But Benitez was the one who could go looking for his nemesis at the final whistle.
Chelsea, now, are masters of their destiny, even if they lose to Spurs. They can play that one, though, without any pressure.

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Sun:

Manchester United 0 Chelsea 1
By NEIL CUSTIS

RAFA BENITEZ must love coming to Old Trafford.

He could never have imagined at the start of this season that he would be on this famous turf celebrating with his players. Not once, but twice.

In March he hailed them for coming back from 2-0 down to earn an FA Cup quarter-final replay against Manchester United, which they would win.

Yesterday it was for a vital 1-0 victory that puts them on the brink of qualifying for the Champions League next term.

Benitez, of course, will also not forget the little matter of a 4-1 triumph here when he was in charge of Liverpool.

Now if he can guide Chelsea to a home win over London rivals Tottenham on Wednesday night, a top-four place is guaranteed.

Finish third and win the Europa League on top and it will be a job very well done.

Chelsea fans might have given him a rough time but the players have responded however.

The hugs and back slaps in the centre of the Old Trafford pitch at the final whistle suggest they have been in this together as well.

What a personal triumph this is for the former Liverpool boss. For the first three months of this season he was keeping himself busy with a bit of punditry and walks in the Wirral.

Roberto Di Matteo was still being lauded for guiding Chelsea to a first European Cup and enjoying a none-to-shoddy start to the Premier League season, too.

While Benitez was unable to breathe new life into a title bid, he could end up with his much-prized CV well enhanced.

Someone out there will be getting a very good manager with his interim stint at Stamford Bridge set to finish at the end of the season.

But he will leave with thanks and the memory of a very big win at the home of the 20-time champions.

It came in an incredible closing few minutes of a game that suddenly burst into life with equal measures of drama and controversy.

United were furious about Juan Mata’s deflected winner off Phil Jones because Wayne Rooney appeared to have been fouled in the build-up.

A closer look suggested Rooney’s foot collided with that of Ramires rather than the other way round. It was a close call but Howard Webb waved play on.

Off strode Lampard with the ball down the centre of the pitch feeding playmaker Mata.

Chelsea lost possession briefly when Jonny Evans cleared a through ball but Ryan Giggs could not control it and the visitors were back in charge.

Mata fed it to Ramires who flicked the ball back to Brazilian Oscar.

The move was flowing and when Oscar slid the ball out to Mata in space in the penalty box, he had an opening for a shot.

Mata’s effort looked to be heading slightly wide but a deflection off Jones put it back on course.

The ball crept into the far corner of the net beyond the outstretched arm of No 2 goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard.

Would David de Gea have got to it? Possibly. But he was left out as boss Alex Ferguson gave a game to players who had been on the bench. The goal was greeted with great delight by the Chelsea players and fans, while Benitez even allowed himself a firm punch of delight.

United were not happy and Rooney went to referee Webb to ask why the earlier foul had not been given.

Tempers flared elsewhere on the pitch two minutes later and Rafael got a straight red card.

As the Brazilian tried to challenge David Luiz for the ball the Chelsea player flung his arm across the young United full-back, 22.

He did this not once but twice and Rafael retaliated by kicking Luiz in the calf.

Referee’s assistant Sian Massey was right next to it and immediately signalled.

Luiz rolled around for added effect and glanced over his shoulder to see if the referee was having it.

Argy-bargy ensued and then Rafael looked aghast as the red card was brandished.

Luiz was in the wrong, too, but Rafael retaliated and, for that, he deserved to go.

Chelsea would hang on through the four minutes of injury time.

They had deserved the win as United boss Alex Ferguson himself admitted afterwards. And for the first time in 67 league matches — dating back to December 2009 — United had failed to score at the Theatre of Dreams.

Not just that, but Chelsea keeper Petr Cech barely had a save to make.

Not that De Gea was overworked, either, although his save pushing Oscar’s effort on to a post in the 14th minute was worthy of note.

One of the few things that was until the game woke from its slumber at the end.

Ferguson said his team had taken their foot off the pedal.

After clinching a 20th title and with the record points total no longer on the cards, you could forgive them for that.

The players will be hoping that Ferguson’s pre-match threat to cancel their trip to Chester races on Wednesday if they did not win was indeed said in jest.

Their race has already been run and won.

Chelsea with a sixth league win in eight games and a Europa League final against Portuguese giants Benfica to look forward to, are finishing their own race with a gallop.

DREAM TEAM STAR MAN - JUAN MATA (Chelsea)

MAN UTD: Lindegaard 5, Rafael 4, Evans 6, Vidic 6, Evra 5, Jones 6, Anderson 5 (Rooney 5), Cleverley 6 (Buttner 5), Valencia 5 (Hernandez 5), Van Persie 6, Giggs 6. Subs not used: De Gea, Ferdinand, Scholes, Kagawa. Sent Off: Rafael. Booked: Vidic, Jones.

CHELSEA: Cech 7, Azpilicueta 6, Ivanovic 7, Luiz 7, Cole 6, Ramires 7, Lampard 6, Oscar 7, Mata 9 (Ake 5), Moses 5 (Torres 5), Ba 6. Subs not used: Turnbull, Ferreira, Cahill, Terry, Benayoun. Booked: Luiz.

REF: H Webb 6


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Express:

Manchester United 0 - Chelsea 1: Spaniard finds a Mata door

By: Richard Tanner

SIR Alex Ferguson had jokingly warned his players he would call off their day out at Chester races on Wednesday if they did not beat Chelsea.
Well, they certainly weren’t at the races yesterday as it took these teams 87 minutes to take off the gloves.
With Manchester United struggling to raise a gallop and leg-weary Chelsea playing their 65th match of a marathon season, a really disappointing goalless stalemate looked the likely outcome.
After averaging 4.8 goals between them in their previous six encounters, there was a marked lack of quality when it came to the finishing.
But suddenly, and all too belatedly, the game sparked into life with Juan Mata poaching a winner vital for those Champions-League qualification aspirations for Chelsea, and Rafael becoming the first United player to be red-carded this season as the game ended in the usual bitter recriminations.
United protested that Wayne Rooney had been fouled by Ramires at the start of the move but there were plenty more errors by them after that.
Jonny Evans made a poor clearance which Ryan Giggs failed to control, then Phil Jones left Mata with too much room for a mishit shot that Anders Lindegaard might have saved if it had not taken a slight deflection off Jones before bobbling into the net off the far post.
The Premier League’s dubious goals panel may well rule that it will go down as a Jones own-goal but Mata – the best player on show – certainly deserved it.
A petulant Rafael then allowed frustration to get the better of him when Brazilian compatriot David Luiz twice held off his challenge with an elbow into his chest. Rafael took a wild swipe at the back of Luiz’s legs and could not argue when assistant referee Sian Massey indicated to referee Howard Webb that it was worthy of a dismissal.
Luiz did not do himself any favours, however, when TV cameras caught him smiling as he rolled on the ground, knowing he had provoked Rafael’s red mist.
None of that, though, concerned Chelsea’s Spanish manager Rafa Benitez as he celebrated a second victory over Ferguson within the space of a month.
He had already ended United’s FA Cup hopes and not only inflicted on them their third home league defeat of the season but prevented them from scoring at home for the first time in 67 Premier League games. Newcastle were the last team to do that, back in 2009.Significantly, Benitez has now won five and drawn one of his past seven meetings with rival Ferguson, including his last two seasons in charge of Liverpool.
In the end, Chelsea deserved a win
That is a record that only Jose Mourinho – the man expected to replace him at Stamford Bridge this summer – can match. Following their verbal spats over recent weeks, old foes Ferguson and Benitez shook hands before and after the game. The trouble was that much of what passed between had the air of an end-of-season friendly, lacking the intensity and competitiveness expected when these clubs collide.
But, in the end, Chelsea deserved a win. And if they beat Tottenham on Wednesday they will be certain of finishing fourth at least, due to superior goal difference.
Before the match, Chelsea would no doubt have happily settled for a point but United were there for the taking after Ferguson set the tone for a lacklustre performance by resting David De Gea, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, Rooney and Shinji Kagawa. Their replacements failed to step up to the plate, and United produced an uninspired performance. Petr Cech did not have to make a serious save.
They should have been fresher than Chelsea, having played 13 fewer matches than their London rivals but, mentally at least, they appear to have shut down since wrapping up their 20th title.
Chelsea bossed possession and always looked the more dangerous side. Lindegaard pushed an Oscar shot on to a post in the first half but Chelsea stepped up the tempo after the break.
Mata was behind all their best attacking work and it was fitting he should score the winner before the red mist descended for Rafael in the final minutes.


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Star:

MANCHESTER UNITED 0-CHELSEA 1: JUAN MATA PUTS CHELSEA IN SIGHT OF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLACE

This win was a massive boost for Chelsea and boss Rafa Benitez in their quest to get back among Europe’s elite.
By Dave Armitage
JUAN MATA fired in a late winner to keep Chelsea’s Champions League hopes burning brightly.
The Spaniard’s 87th-minute goal flattened United and saw Chelsea leapfrog Arsenal into third spot.
They are now a point ahead of the Gunners and three points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham who they meet in a massive clash on Wednesday.
Chelsea really needed three points from this one and they managed it with a last-gasp clincher which was quickly followed by the sending-off of United’s Rafael.
The Brazilian was shown a straight red by Howard Webb after scything down David Luiz as retaliation for having an elbow flung at him.
The Chelsea man hardly endeared himself to United’s crowd or players by appearing to smile as he lay on the floor by the corner flag.
But this win was a massive boost for Chelsea and boss Rafa Benitez in their quest to get back among Europe’s elite.
And it was all down to Mata’s goal three minutes from time, a move which started contentiously with a foul on Wayne Rooney on the edge of the Chelsea box.
He was floored by a Ramires challenge but his protests went unheeded and the visitors broke immediately to the other end.
Mata helped in the build-up and, when it came back to him via Oscar, he sent a left-foot shot in off the inside of the post.
Two minutes later Rafael was sent marching towards the dressing rooms for his ill-advised kick on Luiz but by then it was all over.
Somewhat ironically, the main action and talking points were concentrated into that last, manic few minutes.
Up to that point the game had been remarkably sedate and apart from one glaring 77th-minute miss by Mata, of all people, chances had been few and far between.
He was perfectly placed to meet Frank Lampard’s centre on the edge of the six-yard box, but inexplicably failed to make contact and the chance was gone.
Up to then it had been pretty tame stuff, even the big will he, won’t he, handshake between two managers who aren’t the best of pals.
But if Fergie planned to surprise Benitez, it wasn’t with the ritual of the pre-match handshake.
The United boss, miffed at the suggestion he’d snubbed his old foe before, was having none of that and seemed to make a point of looking out Benitez as he made his way to the dug-out.
What must have raised Benitez’s eyebrows was the United line-up which showed five changes from the side which drew 1-1 with Arsenal.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger was probably left spluttering on his coffee, too, after assurances by Fergie that he’d give due consideration to all the teams still with issues to settle.
It was a far from weak United line-up but there was no Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, Nani or David De Gea, and Wenger no doubt wished he had been afforded similar luxury.
And it was Chelsea who made the brighter start with danger man Demba Ba failing to make the most of two opportunities in the opening few minutes.
It was Ba’s solitary goal which proved enough to knock United out of the FA Cup in a quarter-final replay and inflict a painful blow on Fergie.
And he should have compounded the misery in the third minute when Mata clipped a cross to find him at the far post.
But it caught Ba a little flat-footed and when he managed to adjust and get his head to it, it was a weak effort and the danger was cleared.
Then Mata again caused confusion in te home box with another centre which Anders Lindegaard flapped straight into thepath of Ba.
But again he was unable to get the connection he would have liked and his shot ended up being blocked by De Silva.
United attacked in fits and starts but all in all the first half just failed to live up to expectations. You sensed there must be something around the corner.
Oscar had been unlucky to see his shot from the edge of the box so nearly fox Anders Lindegaard, but the keeper just managed to claw it on to his left-hand post.
And Van Persie sent gasps of anticipation from the crowd when he homed in an exquisite ball from Ryan Giggs, which had curled around Branislav Ivanovic.
Van Persie tried to divert it past Petr Cech in his customary cool fashion but sent his shot into the side netting.

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