League Division One · Matchday 37

Manchester United v Chelsea

4–1

Saturday 31st March 1951 · Old Trafford · Att: 25,779

Manchester United beat Chelsea 4–1 at Old Trafford on Saturday 31st March 1951 in the League Division One. Stan Pearson (28', 33', 75') and Harry McShane (38') scored for United.

Timeline

Running score

Kick Off
13' Stan Willemse 0–1
28' Stan Pearson 1–1
33' Stan Pearson 2–1
38' Harry McShane 3–1
Half Time
75' Stan Pearson 4–1
Full Time 4–1

Match Facts

Stan Pearson scored a hat-trick.
A 5th consecutive win in all competitions.
Stan Pearson's 3 goals took him to 21 in 1950-1951 and 98 for United.
Harry McShane's 5th goal of 1950-1951, and his 5th for United.

Starting XI

Player

7 Harry McShane 38'

8 Stan Pearson 28', 33', 75'

9 John Aston Snr

10 John Downie

11 Jack Rowley

Substitutes

Substitutes were not permitted

Managers

MUFC

Matt Busby

Manchester United

OPP

Billy Birrell

Chelsea

United vs Chelsea History

Meeting 40 of 199

199

Played

Won

Drawn

Lost

312

Goals For

238

Goals Against

All-time record, from the first meeting on Monday 25th December 1905. After this match United had played Chelsea 40 times: 19W 13D 8L.

14 Jan 1950 W 1–0 D1 4 Mar 1950 L 0–2 FAC 11 Nov 1950 L 0–1 D1

31 Mar 1951 W 4–1 This match

10 Nov 1951 L 2–4 D1 21 Apr 1952 W 3–0 D1 23 Aug 1952 W 2–0 D1

All-time	P	W	D	L	F	A	Win%
Home	94	42	32	20	148	88	44.7
Away	94	37	25	32	149	136	39.4
Neutral	11	3	4	4	15	14	27.3

All 199 meetings with Chelsea →

Match results, lineups and goalscorers compiled from mufcinfo.com; advanced match statistics (xG, shots, possession) via FBref and FotMob where available. Last updated 29 September 2026. How we compile this data →