The Reds’ miserable season continued with a 1-0 loss at Stamford Bridge for Ruben Amorim’s team.
Harry Maguire’s neat finish in the first half gave United the chance to take the lead, but VAR disallowed the attempt for offside.
Before halftime, the home team’s Reece James hit the post, and Marc Cucurella’s header after the interval gave Enzo Maresca’s team a three-point victory.
With the win, Chelsea’s hopes of finishing in the top five and qualifying for the Champions League are still in the balance going into next weekend’s Premier League season finale.
In the meantime, United is still in 16th place in the top flight rankings. All eyes will be on Tottenham Hotspur, another struggling team, who lost 2-0 to Aston Villa at Villa Park last night and will play in next week’s Europa League final in Bilbao.
Even though they had a dreadful season, the winners of next week’s final will have earned a trophy for their campaigns and a spot in the Champions League for the next season, just like the teams that placed in the top five of the Premier League.
The focus now shifts to United’s crucial meeting against Spurs in Spain on Wednesday. United manager Amorim said his team started the match in West London well, but they ultimately lacked aggression in the final third.
He said: “I think we started great, well, but in the final third we needed to be a bit more aggressive. We were there, we faced the game in the right way.
“It was a bit of bad luck today. Sometimes we want to press and to score a goal, but we lost a little bit of concentration.”
Amorim continued: “It was different, but you never like when you lose the game. We were competitive, that was clear.
“We have to prepare for each competition, with five days, we can rest. We have to prepare [for the Europa League final], two days to recover and then two days to prepare.”
Referee Chris Kavanagh issued yellow cards to six United players during the match, notwithstanding Cole Palmer’s booking for the home team.
Manuel Ugarte, Amad Diallo, Ayden Heaven, Noussair Mazraoui, Casemiro, and captain Bruno Fernandes were all booked.
The Football Association will also punish United £25,000 for having six or more players booked throughout the process.
Earlier in the season, Chelsea and Bournemouth were both fined after receiving eight and six yellow cards, respectively, setting a precedent.
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