Man Utd produced a gutsy performance to beat Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in a result that could be huge for Michael Carrick.

22:12, 18 Apr 2026

You could call it a tale of two left-wingers. One who sees it as his favourite position but whose questionable commitment was again on show at Stamford Bridge. The other would rather be centre stage, but rather than retreating to the margins, he put the work in to make sure he got the headlines anyway.

Alejandro Garnacho might be unpopular with Chelsea fans, but he is despised by United supporters. They would have been all too familiar with his half-hearted attempt at stopping Bruno Fernandes’ run that led to Matheus Cunha’s goal.

It took some finishing from Cunha, who busted a gut to get in the box from his wing. It was the eighth goal of the season for a player who has put in the work down the left since replacing Patrick Dorgu in January.

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Cunha should be able to reflect on a good first season at Old Trafford after his £62.5million from Wolves in the summer, even if there is a sense of more to come. He was part of a summer of recruitment that looks like being a roaring success, with character and quality added to the squad.

Garnacho’s cameo role in United’s success was a reminder that the former hasn’t always been a given in recent years. He didn’t come on at Old Trafford in September, but he would have left Manchester under no illusions that he had burnt his bridges at United. His first taste of action against his former club only reinforced that view.

If there was one legacy of the Ruben Amorim era, it is the way he so ruthlessly discarded bad apples. It meant Carrick has inherited a much more unified dressing room, one that is pulling in the same direction, and that was evident in the way United dug deep in the second half to hold on to their advantage.

That togetherness wasn’t the case 18 months ago, and Garnacho had already been mercilessly abused even before he was sent to warm up when Estevao went down injured. His foray towards those superb away fans produced the expected reaction. Amorim’s decision to discard him for a Manchester derby in December 2024 and then cut him adrift completely last summer has the backing of the supporters, even if they once thrilled to his talents.

Despite being forced into that early change that saw Garnacho enter the fray, it was Chelsea who had shaded most of the first half, with Cole Palmer at the heart of it. Nominally playing behind Liam Delap, his positioning meant United could never get a handle on him. Often, Palmer would drop deep and drift to the left, sometimes standing next to Pedro Neto to find space and get on the ball, and when he had it, you sensed danger.

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If Palmer ever decided to try to force a move back to Manchester, United would be foolish not to try to make it happen. He would be the perfect replacement for Fernandes, but that doesn’t yet look like being a dilemma for the Old Trafford decision makers, and he proved his worth again just before the break.

Chelsea hadn’t capitalised on the quality of Palmer, but when Fernandes created a chance for United, they did. He wriggled away from a weak attempt at a tackle from Garnacho and his cross found Cunha, whose first-time finish was unstoppable.

The Brazilian had a similar chance earlier in the half, when his attempt at controlling Bryan Mbeumo’s pass was clumsy and resulted in a booking when he lunged in to try and retrieve the situation. This time, he left nothing to chance with his first touch.

The game should have been set up for United at that point, and they wasted a couple of opportunities to break with poor decisions as Chelsea tried to build a head of steam. Delap’s header against the crossbar from 10 yards was a warning sign, and Palmer side-footing wide when unmarked from a similar distance was a let-off. Another Chelsea cross then hit Noussair Mazraoui as he tried to clear and bounced back off the bar.

United were living on the edge and failing to put the game to bed, thanks to their decision-making in the final third. At times, it was too intricate, with Fernandes and Casemiro guilty of overplaying when they should have taken the shot on.

It didn’t matter in the end, with a diligent defensive display securing United a fourth win against a side in the top six since Carrick replaced Amorim in January. Complete the set with victory against Liverpool in May and his claims to keep the job will be impossible to ignore.

But this was a night when he might just thank his predecessor as well. It can be easy to look back on the Amorim era with regret, but not everything that happened in those 14 months was bad.

Zhao Xintong made a scrappy start to his Halo World Snooker Championship defence before putting away qualifier Liam Highfield 10-7 at the Crucible.

Zhao triumphed in Sheffield a year ago but was at risk of following in the footsteps of Luca Brecel and Kyren Wilson, who fell at the first hurdle when defending their crown in 2024 and 2025 respectively.

At the end of the opening session he had a wafer thin 5-4 lead over Highfield, who has never won a match in the main draw but soon found himself level-pegging with the world number four.

Zhao’s rough edges continued but he turned the tide by claiming a pivotal 11th frame and wrapped up the best-of-19 clash after a courageous long plant on his first red, opening up the table for a match-winning century.

“Tonight was pressure, it was very difficult for me,” he told BBC Sport.

“Two days ago I thought I could control that, not now. I just tried to control myself and enjoy the table, but tonight I didn’t do it well. Hopefully next round I can do it.”

A blockbuster second-round match against Chinese compatriot Ding Junhui awaits on Friday, should the latter beat David Gilbert first, and Zhao added: “If I play Ding, everyone keeps eyes on us. If I play with Ding, I’ll feel good.”

Zhao had kicked things off by taking the first two frames of the day, which began with a minute’s applause for John Virgo, the much-loved former player and commentator who died in February.

Breaks of 124 and 128 suggested he was finding some rhythm, but he made a series of uncharacteristic mistakes to let the Englishman back in and would have welcomed the break in play to compose himself.

When the contest resumed he drew gasps from the crowd when he went in off the pink, Highfield drawing level to bring the upset closer. With the pressure on, Zhao picked the perfect moment to pick up three successive frames, reeling off some outrageous long pots to put move 8-5 ahead.

A horrible miss on a simple black could have cost him the 14th, but a series of errors from both men eventually saw him pick off green and blue to nick a messy frame and go within touching distance. Highfield did not give up, taking the next two, but Zhao’s willingness to take on a low percentage red settled matters.

Barry Hawkins, the 2013 runner-up, took a dominant 7-2 advantage over Matthew Stevens. He was 2-1 down after a slow start but shut out the Welshman for the remainder of the evening, with a top break of 99.

Mark Williams took a 6-3 lead over Polish qualifier Antoni Kowalski but there was little to pick between Xiao Guodong and Zhou Yuelong, with the former edging it 5-4 in the afternoon’s play.

In the morning session, 14th seed Mark Allen went 5-3 down to Zhang Anda with the Northern Irishman losing three in a row before halting the momentum just before the interval.

Manchester United moved closer to Champions League qualification after Matheus Cunha’s first-half goal helped them beat struggling Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea’s poor run continued as they suffered their fourth straight Premier League defeat, a streak they have only matched once this century. They have not scored in any of those games and last found the net on 4 March.

Despite the loss, Chelsea will feel unlucky. They hit the woodwork three times through Estevao Willian, Liam Delap, and Wesley Fofana. Willian also had to go off early with another hamstring injury after just 16 minutes.

Chelsea dominated much of the game, having more possession, more shots, and more shots on target. Their expected goals (xG) was also higher, but they failed to convert their chances.

United, however, took their moment. Bruno Fernandes set up the goal with a smart cut-back, and Cunha finished first time to score the winner. It was Fernandes’ 18th league assist of the season, just two short of the Premier League record.

The win was only Manchester United’s second league victory at Stamford Bridge since 2002, and their fans celebrated loudly.

There were mixed reactions in the stadium. United supporters booed Alejandro Garnacho on his return to face his former club, while Chelsea fans voiced their frustration, chanting “we want our Chelsea back.” Mason Mount’s late introduction also drew jeers from the home crowd.

James Toney has predicted a devastating outcome for one half of Xander Zayas vs Jaron Ennis, questioning what the result would mean for his future in the sport.

The pair will collide for Zayas’ WBO and WBA world super-welterweight titles on June 27, headlining a card at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn.

Despite him being a unified champion, many are wondering whether this is a step too far for the Puerto Rican, who comes off a split decision victory over Abass Baraou.

Regardless of the scorecards, Zayas was able to dominate large spells of their encounter in January, before adding the WBA strap to his collection.

Against Ennis, though, the 23-year-old is set to face his toughest opponent by some distance, hoping to pull off what would be a sizable upset.

Having previously unified the welterweight division, orchestrating an emphatic sixth-round finish over Eimantas Stanionis, Ennis is certainly no stranger to a challenge of this nature.

While considering this, and indeed the overall skillset of ‘Boots’, Hall of Famer Toney finds it difficult to envision Zayas retaining his titles.

In fact, the former three-weight world champion has told MillCity Boxing that Ennis could even harm the promising career of his opponent.

“‘Boots’ [is] a bad motherf**ker. This kid [Zayas] is about to get ruined. He ain’t ready. He’s a good fighter, but he’s not there yet.”

This represents Ennis’ second outing at 154lbs, following his first-round demolition job against Uisma Lima in October.

Zayas, on the other hand, is a fully-fledged operator at the weight, having crafted a 23-0 (13 KOs) record with his sharp footwork and prolific jab.

SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) beat Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 10 runs on Saturday, April 18, in match 27 of the ongoing IPL 2026. SRH posted 194/9 in 20 overs after being put to bat first at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

Opener Abhishek Sharma led the charge with a blazing 59 off 22 at a strike rate of 268.18. Heinrich Klaasen also slammed a half-century, contributing 59 off 39. However, the hosts lost momentum in the death overs, scoring just 17 runs while losing four wickets in the last three overs. Anshul Kamboj and Jamie Overton took three scalps each.

CSK’s batting let them down in the run chase. Matthew Short was the top run-scorer with 34 off 30 at an underwhelming strike rate of 113.33. Chennai needed 18 runs from the final over with three wickets in hand. Praful Hinge bowled the crucial over and gave just seven runs while taking one wicket.

Eshan Malinga was the pick of the SRH bowlers. The Sri Lankan pacer was named the Player of the Match, recording excellent figures of 4-0-29-3. Hyderabad moved to the top four following the win.

The Ishan Kishan-led side are currently fourth in the table with three wins and as many losses in six matches. CSK, on the other hand, occupy the seventh spot after two wins from six fixtures.

Here, we look at three moments from the clash that generated a buzz among the fans.

#3 Abhishek Sharma launches onslaught against Matthew Short

Abhishek Sharma took Matthew Short to the cleaners in the powerplay to get SRH off to a flying start. Travis Head took a single on the first ball of the fifth over, getting Abhishek on strike against the part-time off-spinner.

The southpaw slammed a hat-trick of fours to put the Australian all-rounder under pressure. Short failed to bounce back as Abhishek’s onslaught continued. The hard-hitting batter hit back-to-back sixes in the remaining two deliveries.

Abhishek completed a 15-ball half-century with his six on the final ball of the over. He slammed the fastest fifty by an SRH player in IPL history, bettering his 16-ball half-century against Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2024.

#2 Mukesh Choudhary’s twin strikes to end SRH’s powerplay

Left-arm seamer Mukesh Choudhary was added to CSK’s playing XI with Khaleel Ahmed ruled out due to injury. He made an early impact in the game, taking two important wickets in the powerplay.

He dismissed Travis Head with a full-toss while bowling from around the wicket. The opening batter hit it down the ground but miscued it. Ruturaj Gaikwad completed a brilliant diving catch to end the hard-hitting batter’s knock.

Choudhary struck again on the very next delivery, sending back Ishan Kishan for a golden duck. The SRH skipper was caught by Gaikwad at mid-off while looking to clear the in-field.

#1 Heinrich Klaasen takes a blinder to dismiss Ayush Mhatre

Ayush Mhatre gave CSK some hope with a quick-fire cameo. The youngster scored 30 off 13 before perishing to Nitish Reddy in the fifth over. He attempted to clear mid-off on the fourth ball.

However, he ended up mistiming it and didn’t get enough distance. Heinrich Klaasen ran towards his left and jumped in the air to pluck out a stunning catch. Watch the video: