Match Report: Chelsea can’t recover from self-destruction in 2-1 defeat to Man U | OneFootball

Chelsea failed to recover from an early moment of madness from Robert Sanchez as they lost 2-1 to a struggling Manchester United team at Old Trafford.

You couldn’t ask for a better chance to take on United in their stadium as Ruben Amorim desperately tries to slow their downward spiral, but Chelsea had blown their chance within 5 minutes. After the defence failed to deal with a long ball, Robert Sanchez rushed out to meet the flick on and ended up taking out Bryan Mbeumo.

The Spaniard was sent off, Man U scored twice, then Cole Palmer walked off injured. After that there never felt any belief that Enzo Maresca’s team would get back into it – even though United were themselves reduced to ten men in the second half. The dreadful weather got worse, the pitch got heavier, and a tired Chelsea team struggled to show any conviction or faith they could change the course of events.

They did claw a goal back with an excellent Reece James cross onto the head of Trevoh Chalobah, but that was their only shot on target in the game. Even after that, they weren’t able to turn the screw on a nervy Man U. Sanchez certainly gets the bulk of the blame for his rash decision, but Maresca’s response has also been heavily criticised.

This means it’s now two wins in 6 games for the Blues this season – one against a rotten West Ham team and one (rather fortunate) against Fulham. The summer’s optimism has already evaporated and the punishing Champions League schedule is already taking its toll. If Cole Palmer misses any significant period of time, this team are in big, big trouble.

MOTM – Trevoh Chalobah

Analysis

Enzo Maresca in the rain at Old Trafford. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

Maresca said Sanchez’s red card had destroyed the whole game plan, but there were still plenty of complaints about the manager’s reaction to the incident. He immediately brought off both wingers, diminishing any threat his team had on the counter.

His logic was that it would help his team defend – but they conceded two goals anyway. The fact that he took off Pedro Neto and Estevao Willian while knowing Cole Palmer was playing hurt and might need to come off (which he did after 20 minutes) made the decisions even stranger.

On a sodden pitch, Chelsea continued to try and play the ball around despite being a man down. Their only success came when they threw some crosses into the box, but they were far too reluctant to try that earlier in the game.

Teams

Manchester United

Substitutes

Chelsea

Substitutes

Stats

Overall possession

MUN: 41.2% CHE: 58.8%

xG

Manchester United: 1.74 Chelsea: 0.39

Shots

Manchester United: 11 Chelsea: 5

Shots on target

Manchester United: 4 Chelsea: 1

Total touches inside the opposition box

MUN: 21 CHE: 16

Goalkeeper saves

Manchester United: 0 Chelsea: 2

Fouls committed

Manchester United: 13 Chelsea: 14

Corners

Manchester United: 5 Chelsea: 5

Quote of the game

“We’ve got to look at ourselves and take responsibility. We can’t say we’re a young team anymore, we have to take responsibility as men and hold that on ourselves.” – An emotional Trevoh Chalobah, post game.