Premier League rival's brutal Man Utd reply shows size of Ruben Amorim task

Aston Villa boss joked that he expected to be beaten by on Friday night. Marc Cucurella netted the decisive goal for the Blues late in the second half, heading past Andre Onana and handing United their 18th loss of the season.

United thought they had taken the lead when found the back of the net from a cross, but VAR ruled it out for offside. The match ended 1-0 at Stamford Bridge, with Enzo Maresca's Chelsea taking a significant step towards securing qualification for next season.

Villa are another of the teams in the race to secure a top-five finish, which will see them return to Europe's top competition. And had Amorim's side got a result in West London, Villa's destiny would have been in their own hands.

Emery hinted that he hadn't held out too much hope of that happening, though, with Villa now needing results to go in their favour on the final day.

"How's it going with Chelsea? ," he asked. "Finished 1-0, okay we expected it" he said, followed by a cheeky grin and a laugh.

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Emery added: "It's not in our hands. We are winning. But other teams are as well, they are being demanding, and they are getting their points."

As for United, they can, somehow, still earn a place in the Champions League, despite being on for their worst domestic finish in more than 50 years. Defeat against Chelsea leaves them in 16th place in the table, but winning the final vs Spurs would see them return to Europe's elite.

Amorim is not sure that would be beneficial for United's long-term success though, with a huge overhaul of the playing staff required to compete.

Asked if Champions League qualification could hinder his project, he said: “That is my feeling. We need more time with the team. We need to arrange a lot of things in Carrington that we need more time to do, so we’re not thinking game by game by game.

“Then we have the squad. We proved this year that we need to be a better squad if we want to win European games and then be really competitive in the Premier League. That is going to be tough. My feeling is that."

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