Chelsea held their nerve in the race for Champions League qualification as Marc Cucurella’s second-half header secured a 1-0 win over Manchester United to send them fourth.

The pressure was on for Chelsea after Aston Villa beat Tottenham, a result which would have moved them above Enzo Maresca’s side had they dropped points but, after a tense wait for the breakthrough, captain Reece James set up Cucurella with a fine turn and cross.

Although Ruben Amorim went with a strong line-up ahead of the Europa League final, if Chelsea had slipped up against this United side, 16th and now winless for a record eight Premier League games, questions would have been asked.

Chelsea will at least be in the top five when they go to Nottingham Forest in their final game of the league season on May 25. Victory at the City Ground would guarantee a return to the Champions League after two years away.

United have now lost 18 games in the league this season and are yet to hit 40 points, usually the target for teams to avoid relegation, with just one game left against Villa. Everything is riding on Wednesday’s Europa League final against Tottenham.

The damning Man Utd stats

This was Manchester United’s 18th league defeat of the season, their most in a season since losing 20 in 1973-74 in the last season in which they were relegated.

United have gone eight league games without a win (D2 L6) for the first time since an 11-game stretch between December 1989 and February 1990.

This was Ruben Amorim’s second run of losing three consecutive Premier League matches with Manchester United (also doing so in December), only one fewer run of three consecutive defeats than Sir Alex Ferguson had across his 810 games in the competition (3).

Since the start of April, United have won fewer points than any other Premier League side (2), drawing two and losing six of eight games in that time.

United have failed to score in the first half of 26 Premier League matches this season, their most in a single campaign. No side has failed to score in more first halves this season (relegated Leicester also on 26).

Story of the match in stats…

What’s coming up in the Premier League?

Sky Sports to show 215 live PL games from next season

From next season, Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage will increase from 128 matches to at least 215 games exclusively live.

And 80 per cent of all televised Premier League games next season are on Sky Sports.