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Manchester United came into the Stamford Bridge at the back of their first defeat under the caretaker manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjager, and looked to bounce back immediately. While for Chelsea, things have not been that glossy away from home but the Blues have been sensational at the Stamford Bridge. It was the holders against the Challengers and the stage was set for a mouthwatering fifth-round FA Cup clash.
United started the game strongly, but Chelsea took hold of the proceedings as the match progressed. However, it was Paul Pogba's cross which found Ander Herrera and the Spaniard didn't make any mistake to head it past Kepa to put United ahead in the match.
The Blues kept more possession of the ball but were caught on the counter once again. A simple through ball from Pogba found Rashford who drilled in a powerful cross for Paul to put United 2-0 ahead at half-time.
The onus was on the home side to score in the second half but they could not pose any threat to United in the second 45 minutes. Despite having more possession, the Blues couldn't break the United rearguard. On the other hand, Solskaer's men held on to their first-half lead to progress into the quarterfinals.
Here are the Manchester United Player ratings.
Sergio Romero - 6.5/10
The Argentine is the first choice goalkeeper in the Cup competitions for United. He made a couple of good saves in the first half to deny David Luiz and Pedro. Sergio had a reasonably comfortable second 45 minutes.
Ashley Young - 6/10
Young had the daunting task to deal with Eden Hazard down the left-hand side and he often struggled to read the Belgian's movements down that flank. He was mostly restricted to do defensive duties and hardly joined forces in the attack.
Chris Smalling - 7/10
Chris has been mostly out this season due to injuries and to play at such a high voltage match is always a tough ask. However, he stood up strong against Higuain up front and never allowed him to roam free inside the box.
Victor Lindelof - 6.5/10
Lindelof has established himself as the first choice central half in the side and once again today he showed his calmness and intelligence at the back. His distribution was precise and so was his understanding with Smalling.
Luke Shaw - 7/10
Like Young, Shaw didn't maraud forward that much and preferred to sit back and stop any Chelsea attack down the right flank. He intercepted a couple of vital through balls inside the six-yard box including a crucial tackle to stop Pedro having a clear shot on goal.
Nemanja Matic - 6.5/10
Nemanja had to deal with Kante and Kovacic at the center of the park and he managed to keep both of them in check for most parts of the game. However, the Serbian took a booking very early in the match which made his life difficult through the rest of the game. Matic even made a crucial block to deny Hazard a clear shot on goal in the second half.
Ander Herrera - 8/10
Ander was everywhere for United today. He not only opened the scoring for the Red Devils but did a lot of work at the other end defending and supported Young to deal with the threat of Hazard.
Paul Pogba - 8.5/10
The Frenchman was at the heart of everything United created in the attack. He assisted the opening goal for Herrera and scored the second himself to give a commanding 2-0 lead to United at the half time.
Juan Mata - 6.5/10
Mata has been struggling to get proper game time under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but today he had a decent overall performance. Juan played a crucial role in United's second goal where he held up the ball brilliantly and passed it to Pogba who put Rashford through. Mata was substituted in the second half by Pereira.
Marcus Rashford - 7/10
Marcus didn't score today but his pace and movement was a nightmare for Chelsea defenders to deal with. Rashford provided the assist for Pogba, who scored United's second goal of the day.
Romelu Lukaku - 5.5/10
Lukaku looked good in some parts but didn't do much to convince his manager or the fans. Sanchez replaced him in the second half.
Substitutes
Alexis Sanchez - 5/10
Alexis came on with 20 minutes to go and chased down almost every Chelsea player whenever the Blues had the ball. He hardly made any contribution in the attacking front as most of his time was spent tracking back the Chelsea wingers.
Andreas Pereria & McTominay- NA
Similar to Sanchez, both of them hardly got time to make any telling contribution.
