Chelsea’s hopes of finishing in the top-four took a big blow this weekend.

With Liverpool beating West Ham on Saturday and Spurs grabbing a late win against Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon, Chelsea knew they needed to get a result at Old Trafford against Manchester United.

And, after Willian’s strike in the 32nd-minute, Antonio Conte’s side were looking fairly comfortable.

But they could only hold onto their lead for seven minutes as former Chelsea player Romelu Lukaku equalised shortly before half-time.

A draw wouldn’t have been a bad result and the visitors always looked dangerous on the break.

But that danger was soon blunted when Conte decided to take off Eden Hazard.

While Hazard wasn't having his most effective game, the decision confused everyone.

COURTOIS ON HAZARD'S SUBSTITUTION

And that includes goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

The goalkeeper certainly didn’t defend his manager’s decision to swap Hazard with Pedro in the 73rd-minute, suggesting that his compatriot should always be playing 90 minutes.

“After our goal, we conceded a counter-attacking goal just like last Tuesday but in the second half we had less of the ball, but even then we should never have lost this match," he told Belgian TV channel Play Sports.

"If you do not do the small things well in top matches, you lose, which is what happened today.

"I have no explanation for the sub of Hazard. I had not expected him to take him off but it is a choice of the manager. He must explain. I can't look into his head. 

"Players like Eden should have 90 minutes on the pitch. He can always bring something extra offensive."

To make that decision look even worse, Jesse Lingard put United 2-1 up just two minutes later. That goal consigned Chelsea to their seventh loss of the season, leaving them two points behind Tottenham in fourth and four points adrift of Liverpool in third.

CONTE TRIED TO EXPLAIN HIS DECISION

After the match, Conte tried to explain exactly why he subbed Hazard by saying: “It was a tactical decision.

“We have to keep the same performance for 90 minutes. Otherwise we don’t have a great balance. Every single player has to work with the ball, without the ball, otherwise we lose our balance and the game.”

It definitely didn’t work.