Chelsea Ejected Manchester United Fans over Homophobic Chanting in EPL Match

Chelsea revealed they denied entry to a group of Manchester United fans because they were chanting homophobic abuse ahead of Monday's Premier League meeting between the clubs, and later ejected others for the same reason.

The Blues released a statement on their official website on Tuesday:

"At last night's match a large group of Manchester United supporters made unacceptable homophobic chants. A number of these away supporters were prevented from entering the stadium and others were ejected during the game.

"This behaviour will not be tolerated at Chelsea Football Club. Those supporters will be banned from attending matches at Stamford Bridge in future, and in cooperation with Manchester United we have passed the details of those supporters to them so they can take appropriate action."

BBC Sport's Simon Stone shared United's response:

Chelsea Pride, one of the club's official supporter groups, were glad to see their club take a stand:

United left Stamford Bridge with all three points thanks to goals from Anthony Martial and Harry Maguire. The win moved the Red Devils up to seventh place, just three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.

VAR stole the headlines after the match for a series of controversial decisions, ruling out two Chelsea goals and not handing Maguire a red card after he appeared to kick out at Michy Batshuayi. Here are the match highlights:

Chelsea are winless in their last four Premier League outings and will face fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur next. The gap between the two clubs is down to a single point after three straight wins for Spurs.

United visit Belgian side Club Brugge in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday before resuming their domestic campaign against Watford on Sunday. The Red Devils have just one win in their last four Premier League outings but remain firmly in the race for a UEFA Champions League ticket.

A top-five finish could be enough to secure a spot in Europe's premier club competition, pending the success of Manchester City's appeal after they were banned from UEFA competitions for two years over financial fair play violations.