Man Utd’s incredible defensive record revealed with seven clean sheets in last ten and David De Gea back on form – The Sun

MANCHESTER UNITED managed to shut out Chelsea last night at Stamford Bridge on their way to sealing a priceless victory in the hunt for Champions League football next season.

After their 2-0 New Year's Day defeat at Arsenal, the Red Devils' season was threatening togo completely off the rails.

But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has managed to steady the ship in the following six weeks, thanks in no small part to their now-miserly defence.

United have kept an impressive seven clean sheets in their last ten matches, with five of those coming against teams in the top half of the Premier League.

Fans swiftly became bored of the seemingly never-ending trilogy of matches against Wolves in the space of just four weeks – but will surely be impressed by the fact that United kept Nuno's side out on all three occasions.

The Red Devils' League Cup campaign unravelled in the calamitous first 45 of their semi-final first leg against rivals Manchester City.

Supporters will, however, be cursing their luck that they were without skipper Harry Maguire – as well as long-term absentee Eric Bailly.

United did show a much better version of themselves in the second leg with Maguire back in the side, but despite being too little, too late, their 1-0 win at the Etihad was impressive.

A comprehensive 4-0 victory over Norwich followed their League Cup semi-final first leg – before a midweek 1-0 FA Cup win over those pesky Wolves.

January hit a buffer in the shape of back-to-back 2-0 defeats against Liverpool and most disappointingly, Burnley.

But then a 6-0 win over League Two Tranmere got things moving in the right direction again.

After bowing out of the League Cup, and then facing yet another snoozer against Wolves, United then had 16 days to prepare for the crunch top four clash with Chelsea.

And United fans got their first glimpse of the fit-again Bailly alongside Maguire – and will have liked what they saw.

Bailly showed poise and composure to go with his natural defensive instincts – while Maguire recovered from a potential first-half sending off to score United's crucial second.

A more settled defence could have a positive effect on goalkeeper David de Gea too.

The Spaniard has had a rough couple of seasons and things appeared close to breaking point after his diabolical howler at Watford in December.

But the 29-year-old Old Trafford stalwart has regained his authority between the sticks, making key saves as United have become tricky to score against again.

And one fan on Reddit was particularly happy for United's number one.

They commented: "So happy for our man DDG, he's finally getting the backline he has deserved after all these years".

While another replied: "Not the biggest Ole fan but thank god he dismantled that back line of Valencia  Smalling Jones Young. I'll forever be grateful for that."

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