Chelsea risk Premier League collapse after Man Utd shocker

The lead at the top of the table has been cut to just four points with six games left as Chelsea were outplayed and out-thought at Old Trafford

Chelsea risk throwing away the Premier League title after their former manager Jose Mourinho exposed their weaknesses in a disastrous afternoon for Antonio Conte at Old Trafford.

Conte's side put in their worst performance since they were beaten 3-0 by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium at the start of the campaign - as Marcus Rashford and Ander Herrera gave United a 2-0 win.

Chelsea remain four points clear of Tottenham at the top of the table and they are the envy of the rest of the league but Conte is now faced with a host of problems to resolve. 

Diego Costa is badly out of form and looking like a liability once again as he was lucky not be red carded. Hazard was nullified, having been man-marked by Herrera, prompting the following question; if you stop Hazard, do you stop Chelsea? It appears to be the case for a Chelsea side whose lone forward is playing so badly.

Diego Costa won only 23.1% of his duels and gave away possession more than any other player in the first half of the match. His second half wasn't much better either.

The naturalised Spaniard’s form has fallen away since he was offered a triple-your-money move to China in January, but he wasn’t the only Chelsea player to disappoint on Sunday.

Pedro had his worst game in months as he managed only 13 touches in the first half and won none of his seven duels. Nemanja Matic, Victor Moses, Cesar Azpilicueta and Kurt Zouma also completed less than 70% of their passes in the first half.

Chelsea may have been penalised by a controversial handball call in the build-up to Rashford’s opener, but they can have no complaints about the result. They were second best from start to finish. It was so bad that the away side didn't manage a shot on target for the entire 90 minutes.

Conte admitted that his side's poor performance has blown the title race wide open but took the blame on himself. He decided to protect his own players as the pressure mounts. 

"We didn’t play a good game, and United deserved to win the game because they showed more desire, ambition and motivation," Conte said. "It’s very simple, but in this case it is the fault of the coach.