Manchester United have been held to a 1-1 draw by Huddersfield Town in Sunday’s Premier League clash at the John Smith’s Stadium, a result which leaves Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side with Europa League football next season.
Scott McTominay put United in front during the opening stages of the contest, but Isaac Mbenza’s first goal for Huddersfield earned the already-relegated side a share of the spoils.
Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Watford means that United cannot finish in the top four of the standings, with the North-West giants now facing a year of rebuilding outside of the Champions League.
United wasted no time in pushing for an early goal, and it came as little surprise when McTominay opened the scoring within eight minutes of kickoff.
Huddersfield soon showed that they were prepared to throw caution to the wind in the second half, with Juninho Bacuna setting up Grant who curled marginally wide from 20 yards out.
However, Huddersfield found an equaliser on the hour mark. Lossl’s long pass was not dealt with by Luke Shaw, and Mbenza was able to run clear on goal before slotting the ball through the legs of De Gea.
United were also made aware that they needed to record all three points due to Chelsea’s advantage over Watford, and the visitors quickly created two close-range chances for Jones and Rashford which were diverted off target.
Rashford also saw a 25-yard strike parried wide of the far left post, and more chances went United’s way with Huddersfield prepared to push forward in search of a winner.
Rashford saw one final strike well kept out by Lossl at his near post, and it left United to contemplate a return to European football’s second-tier competition at a time when Solskjaer may have been banking on the Champions League to attract new players in the summer.