Erik ten Hag has already explained how Manchester United could replace Antony vs Man City

Manchester United secured their place back in the Champions League for next season with a comfortable 4-1 win over Chelsea at Old Trafford on Thursday night.

Heading into the contest requiring just a point to get themselves over the line, United, despite some iffy moments defensively in the first half, made light work of the struggling Londoners to wrap up a top four finish with a game to spare. Goals from Casemiro, Anthony Martial, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford either side of half-time capped off a relatively comfortable night's work for Erik ten Hag's side.

But despite the victory being enough to get them back into Europe's premier club competition, it did come at a cost; Antony went off injured just before the half hour mark after being on the receiving end of a fair challenge from Trevoh Chalobah. He had to be carried off on a stretcher and was replaced by Rashford, who was back in the matchday squad after missing two games through injury and illness.

READ MORE: Three ways United could line-up without Antony at Wembley

Antony hit the turf in a great amount of discomfort and was evidently distraught. It immediately struck as being a serious injury and that was what Ten Hag described it as in his post-match press conference.

The Dutchman said: "Everyone has seen he came off. I can tell you that it's serious but we have to wait a minimum 24 hours and then we know probably more about the status of his injury."

Despite the severity of the Brazilian's injury not yet being confirmed, early indications do not bode well ahead of Sunday's Premier League finale against Fulham and next Saturday's FA Cup final against Manchester City at Wembley. The former Ajax winger was an expected shoo-in to start against City after