Luke Shaw stood up to be counted against Chelsea | OneFootball

Manchester United were under the cosh for the most part, but prevailed 1-0 against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday night.

This was United’s first win at the Blues’ home ground in six years, and they now have a 10-point advantage over Chelsea, who are currently sixth.

Which means the Red Devils, who remained in third place, are in the driver’s seat when it comes to the race for Champions League qualification.

What made the three points even more special was the circumstances under which it was obtained.

Luke Shaw recovered from early mistake

The 20-time English league champions were without four out of five senior centre-back options, with Michael Carrick forced to pick a makeshift centre-back pairing of Ayden Heaven and Noussair Mazraoui.

Both Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez were suspended, while there are fears Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro could be out for the season.

The new centre-back duo started poorly, but eventually made amends as the Old Trafford side kept a clean sheet against the odds.

Under Michael Carrick, the United players refuse to let their heads drop despite mistakes, and Luke Shaw was another example of this on the night.

Veteran used his experience to take charge

The veteran left-back started sluggishly, handing an early opportunity to the hosts with an errant backpass.

But by the end of the contest, the Englishman looked well and truly in command, winning a 100 percent of his aerial duels while also completing all his attempted tackles.

stats via sofascore

He lost only one ground duel, while completing eight clearances and recovering the ball three times (all stats via sofascore).

The 30-year-old also made one interception, and won his team three free-kicks after being fouled by the home side.

United need Luke Shaw fit and firing

Luke Shaw was no slouch with the ball either, completing a 100 percent of balls played inside the opposition half, while finding a teammate with one long ball.

United will need their left-back to show the same levels in the remaining five games as they look to finish as high up the table as possible.

Feature image Julian Finney via Getty Images

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