Late Chelsea winner sinks United

One is enough ... Juan Mata celebrates his winner at Old Trafford. Source: Darren Walsh / AP

Juan Mata struck an 87th-minute winner as Chelsea won 1-0 at champions Manchester United on Sunday to reclaim third place in the English Premier League and tighten their grip on a Champions League spot.

A lacklustre game at Old Trafford was drifting towards a goalless draw when Mata collected a pass from Oscar and dispatched a low shot that took a deflection off Phil Jones on its way into the bottom-right corner.

Mata's goal means Chelsea go into Wednesday's crunch clash against Tottenham at Stamford Bridge with a three-point lead over their London rivals, who are bidding to crash into the top four.

Arsenal are sandwiched between the pair in fourth, a point behind Chelsea, having played a game more.

United had right-back Rafael da Silva sent off late on and although their lead over second-place Manchester City remains 13 points, they have failed to win in two games since clinching their 20th league title.

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Man United	36	27	4	5	42	85
2	Man City	35	21	9	5	30	72
3	Chelsea	35	20	8	7	34	68
4	Arsenal	36	19	10	7	31	67
5	Tottenham	35	19	8	8	18	65
6	Everton	36	15	15	6	14	60
7	Liverpool	36	14	13	9	25	55
8	West Brom	35	14	6	15	1	48
9	Swansea	35	10	13	12	-1	43
10	West Ham	36	11	10	15	-8	43
11	Stoke	35	9	13	13	-10	40
12	Fulham	36	10	10	16	-11	40
13	Aston Villa	36	10	10	16	-21	40
14	Southampton	36	9	12	15	-11	39
15	Norwich	36	8	14	14	-22	38
16	Newcastle	36	10	8	18	-23	38
17	Sunderland	35	9	10	16	-12	37
18	Wigan	35	9	8	18	-22	35
19	Reading	36	6	10	20	-26	28
20	QPR	36	4	13	19	-28	25

United manager Alex Ferguson conceded his side weren't good enough, but he felt Rafael had been reacting to an elbow from David Luiz when he was sent off by referee Howard Webb.

"He was elbowed. He retaliated, and the player who retaliates always gets the bigger penalty," Ferguson told Sky Sports.

"David Luiz elbowed him twice, but Rafael was rash and shouldn't have retaliated. I don't think the referee saw it at all."

United made five changes from the side that drew 1-1 at Arsenal last weekend, with Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney and goalkeeper David de Gea among the players dropping to the bench.

Chelsea were missing Eden Hazard due to a calf strain and made four changes from their Europa League semi-final second leg success against FC Basel on Thursday.

Interim Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez was reluctant to discuss Rafael's red card.

"I didn't see the incident and I didn't see any replay," he said.

"You try to enjoy it if you win. If you lose, you can complain, but it will change nothing."

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