Cunha's moment of class ends Chelsea's hopes at Stamford Bridge

Manchester United's approach was cynical and utterly pragmatic. They sat deep, compact, suffocating, waiting for the moment to strike. It came just before half-time. Fernandes released Cunha down the left, and when the ball arrived at his feet inside the box, he took one touch and bent a clinical finish past Robert Sanchez. One chance. One goal. Game over. You cannot fault the execution, even if the manner of United's victory will irritate Chelsea supporters who watched their team dominate without reward.

Cunha's moment of composure in the forty-third minute, a finish of genuine quality after Fernandes picked him out, proved the difference between a side that knows how to kill a game and one that, for all their possession and territory, cannot find the clinical edge when it matters. The statistics tell a damning story for the hosts. Twenty-one shots to four. Thirteen blocked efforts. Eleven efforts from inside the box. Chelsea dominated so completely that you'd have sworn they were pressing for a winner in the ninetieth minute, not chasing a first goal. Yet they mustered only three shots on target, and Onana was rarely troubled.

The second half belonged entirely to Chelsea in terms of possession and intensity, but United refused to panic or abandon their shape. Estevao's introduction after sixteen minutes gave Chelsea some directness they lacked in the opening stages, but even that spark faded into frustration. The youngster, like so many in blue shirts, found himself suffocated by United's suffocating organisation. Hato picked up a yellow card for his troubles as Chelsea's attacking ambitions grew increasingly desperate. By the time the substitutions came thick and fast around the eighty-minute mark, the contest had already been decided.

This result stings differently for Chelsea. A defeat to a superior side is one thing. But losing whilst controlling every facet of play, whilst enjoying nearly sixty percent possession, whilst creating genuine openings? That is a failure of execution and mentality. Cunha and Fernandes deserve credit for their ruthlessness, but this victory sits uneasily. Manchester United climbed further clear at the top of the chase, now seven points above Chelsea and looking increasingly like genuine contenders. The hosts, meanwhile, sit sixth and languishing. Without clinical finishing, all the beautiful football in the world is just theatre.