Manchester United went into Sunday's clash against Chelsea knowing they needed to take all three points to keep any realistic hopes of finishing in the top four alive.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men were on a terrible run of seven defeats in their last nine matches but made a bright start at Old Trafford and took the lead in the 11th minute.

Juan Mata marked his 31st birthday with a goal against his former club after a good run and assist from Luke Shaw, and a lovely chipped through ball from Romelu Lukaku.

The big Belgian isn't known for producing deft touches and passes in and around the box but that's exactly what he did to release Shaw in the build up to Mata's opener.

That said, no one can question Lukaku's pace and power and Cesar Azpilicueta felt the full effect of the centre-forward's strength during the first half of the 1-1 Premier League draw.

Lukaku sends Azpilicueta off the pitch

Lukaku, who's scored 15 goals in 44 matches for Man Utd this season, started up front versus Chelsea alongside Marcus Rashford, with the crafty Mata behind them in the number ten role.

Before Chelsea equalised through a Marcos Alonso strike (and another David de Gea error), a rampant Lukaku was in a race for the ball with Azpilicueta.

The chase for possession took both players towards the corner of the pitch, and that's where Lukaku completely bodied the Chelsea captain off the pitch courtesy of a shoulder barge.

If that wasn't bad enough, replays of the incident showed that Azpilicueta couldn't recover from Lukaku's challenge in time to avoid crashing into a cameraman.

As you can see below, the 29-year-old Spaniard ran straight into the unfortunate photographer, who was seated at the time, colliding with his camera and knocking him off his chair.

For all the criticism Lukaku gets, there's no doubt that the 25-year-old can be an absolute nightmare for opposition defenders when he's at his best.

If the £75 million man can improve the consistency of his performances, his impressive physical attributes will enable him to become one of the very best forwards in the league.

What did YOU make of Lukaku totally overpowering Azpilicueta during United 1-1 Chelsea? Have YOUR say in the comments box below!