LONDON - Chelsea will have defender Marc Cucurella to thank if they hit their target of qualifying for next season's Champions League.

The tenacious, bushy-haired Spaniard once again popped up to score a vital goal as the Londoners beat Manchester United 1-0 on Friday, leaving them on the cusp of returning to Europe's elite competition.

Cucurella powered a header past Andre Onana in the 71st minute, latching on to a perfect cross by Reece James as the two Chelsea wing backs combined to pierce United's defence.

The goal settled the nerves of the home players and supporters who had been staring at the prospect of Chelsea dropping out of the Premier League's top five Champions League qualifying spots with only one more game to play this season.

Cucurella, 26, similarly snatched the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win over Leicester City in March, put the Blues on course to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers in January and opened the scoring in a 2-1 win over Brentford in December.

He was also among the scorers in goals in a 4-0 thrashing of Southampton in February.

By the end of Friday's game against United, the Stamford Bridge crowd were serenading him with chants of "Cu-cu-rella" along to the tune of Mexican folk song "La Bamba".

Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca praised his left back for his sense of timing as well as the footballing philosophy that he learned while coming through the academy at Barcelona.

"The reason why Cucu is doing is so good with us is also because we know him, what he can do. The way we like to play is exactly the way that is good for him," Maresca told reporters.

"It's not important how big you are, or small. It's important to understand where you have to be, the position, the moment."

It wasn't always this way. Signed in the summer of 2022 from Brighton & Hove Albion for 62 million pounds - one of the first of the many expensive acquisitions funded by Chelsea's U.S. owners - Cucurella struggled in his first season.

He then missed chunks of his second campaign at Stamford Bridge with injuries, leaving many Chelsea fans wondering why the club had spent so much money on him.

But a good run of form towards the end of last season earned him a place in Spain's squad for the Euro 2024 where he was a key part of La Roja's victorious campaign. He provided the cross that Mikel Oyarzabal converted for the winning goal in Spain's 2-1 win over England in the tournament final.

On Friday, Cucurella said he was focused on helping Chelsea get back into the Champions League which the club won in 2021, a year before his arrival in London, and the UEFA Conference League final against Real Betis on May 28.

"The most important thing is it depends on us so we have to play the game on Sunday (against Nottingham Forest) and then we are thinking about the final," he told the BBC. "Today is a moment to enjoy because we work all season for these moments so now we have ambitions to achieve these things." REUTERS

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