Ole thrilled with win against top-four rivals

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was delighted to take three points from a fellow rival for the Champions League places, on Monday night.

The Reds beat Chelsea 2-0 in our Premier League game at Stamford Bridge, which helped us close the gap to the top-four spots.

United are currently seventh in the table with 38 points, but fourth-placed Chelsea are only three points ahead, while Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield United, in fifth and sixth respectively, have 40 and 39 points.

With so much still to play for between now and the end of the season, Ole knows results like the one we grabbed on Monday night could ultimately be pivotal in the race to qualify for Europe’s elite competition.

“We want to be in the Champions League next season and we’ve given ourselves a chance with this result,” Ole said.

“We know we need to improve on creating chances and scoring goals. We showed again with another clean sheet, that’s a foundation to build on.

“We’re going to work hard and we’ve got to recover because we have a game [against Club Brugge] on Thursday.”

“We’ve come here and defended really well,” he added. “Four clean sheets on the bounce, of course, and that’s a great foundation to work from.”

The battle to finish in the Champions League places will take another twist on Saturday when Chelsea and Tottenham meet in the early kick-off, while Sheffield United host Brighton & Hove Albion later that afternoon. The Reds will be hoping to cash in on any slip-ups the following day, when we welcome Watford to Old Trafford.

Given how tight the table is at present, things could be very different by the end of the month, with Chelsea wrapping up February with a trip to Bournemouth, before Tottenham host fellow Champions League hopefuls Wolverhampton Wanderers a day later.

United are also in action that Sunday when we make the short journey to Everton, but Sheffield United have a week off given their game against Aston Villa has been postponed due to the Villans’ participation in the Carabao Cup final.