LONDON: A late own goal from Phil Jones secured Chelsea a 1-0 victory at Manchester United on Sunday to leave the Londoners poised for a top-four finish and a Champions League place next season.
An angled shot from Juan Mata in the 87th minute took a slight deflection off defender Jones and beat keeper Anders Lindegaard.
“It was a very important victory,” Mata said.
“Playing against Manchester United and Tottenham were two big games in a week for us. We got a win here and if we can get a win on Wednesday it will help.
“Both teams played a bit slowly. I just tried to shoot, aim for the second post and the most important thing was that it was a goal.”
United defender Rafael was sent off in the 89th minute for kicking out at fellow Brazilian David Luiz, becoming the first player that the champions have had dismissed this season.
Chelsea moved up to third place on 68 points from 35 games, one ahead of Arsenal, who have played a game more, and three ahead of Tottenham Hotspur, who have also played 35.
This is Chelsea’s sixth win at Old Trafford since the Premier League began, the most of any club after the EPL was formed.
It is also their fist victory there since 2010.
In the earlier game, Everton’s slim hopes of playing European football next season receded further after they drew 0-0 at city rivals Liverpool in a derby short on entertainment.
Everton, who have drawn 15 Premier League games this season – more than any other side – remain sixth on 60 points.
They have just two games remaining and have slim hopes of securing the Europa League place for the side finishing fifth. Liverpool are seventh on 55 points.
Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard said, “Everton have improved a lot. They are a good team and hard to beat.
“This game sums up our season as we have played well but lacked a cutting edge.”
Team mate Jamie Carragher, a defender, felt the result was fair.
“I think it is a fair result. There wasn’t too many chances either end,” he said.
“It was a bit of a tense derby and credit to Everton for coming here and getting a draw.”
In Saturday’s late match, Theo Walcott scored the quickest goal of the season – after 20 seconds – to earn the Gunners a 1-0 win at Queens Park Rangers.
Last year’s champions, Manchester City, who are now out of the running, will go up against West Bromich Albion on Tuesday, the same day that Wigan take on Swansea.
Before that, Sunderland will face Stoke on Monday.
Chelsea’s manager, Rafael Benitez, who joined the club during the season in an interim role said, “It’s an important win. We knew we needed to win a couple of games and this is the first one.
“If we can beat Tottenham on Wednesday, we will be in the top four with two games left to play.
“The tempo of the game was not too high. You can understand Manchester United relaxing as they’ve won the title.
“We created the better chances, they had one or two but we had more and the control of the game,” said the Spaniard, who is on his way out after the season.
“Juan Mata is a great player and has the intelligence and ability to change the game,” he added of his star.
United manager Alex Ferguson said he expected a better performance from his team and admitted that Chelsea were the ones with everything to play for.
“There is always an expectation that we should do better. We expected a better performance. After the goal we had no time to get back in it. After that the game was start-stop,” Ferguson said.
“It was difficult for players coming in. Chelsea had everything to play for. They [some of our players] haven’t played for quite a while.
“That being said, we should be doing better.”
Commenting on the red card, Ferguson added, “He [Rafael] retaliates but he [David Luiz] quite clearly elbows him twice then rolls about like a diving swan and that convinces the referee.
“He was smiling, it’s bad. What kind of professional is that?” the Scotsman asked rhetorically. (Reuters)