Man United 2-1 Chelsea: Blues’ winless Old Trafford run continues as Sanchez & Casemiro see red | OneFootball

Chelsea fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on a rainy Saturday night at Old Trafford.

It was a disastrous start for Enzo Maresca’s side as Robert Sanchez saw red after bringing down Bryan Mbeumo, who poked the ball past the Chelsea goalkeeper, for being the last man.

Estevao and Pedro Neto were subsequently hooked for Filip Jorgensen and Tosin Adarabioyo, with Maresca needing a replacement goalkeeper and wanting to tighten up the defence.

But it didn’t take the hosts long to take the lead through Bruno Fernandes, who made no mistake to convert from close range in the 15th minute to score his 100th goal for the Red Devils.

Chelsea’s problems worsened five minutes later when Cole Palmer was forced off with a groin problem, removing another creative attacking player as the visitors searched for a way back into the game.

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Eight minutes before half-time and United got their second through Casemiro. Reece James failed to clear inside the penalty area and Luke Shaw’s header fell to the back post for the Brazilian to make no mistake to put past substitute Jorgensen.

In first half stoppage time, Casemiro went from hero to zero as Peter Bankes showed the midfielder a second yellow card for a foul on Joao Pedro, offering the Blues a lifeline and glimmer of hope of turning the game around.

Despite bringing on Tyrique George and Malo Gusto, Chelsea were unable to find a breakthrough at Old Trafford.

But 10 minutes from time and Chelsea finally produced a moment of quality and it resulted in a goal to halve the deficit. James whipped a cross in and Trevoh Chalobah was there to guide his header into the back of the net.

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It wasn’t enough and Man United held out for the victory on a wet evening in the north west.

Chelsea have failed to win any of their three away games in the last week - drawing to Brentford, and suffering defeats to both Bayern Munich and Man United - putting a dampener on their start to the season.

Next up for Chelsea is Lincoln City in the Carabao Cup third round on Tuesday night. It will give Maresca the chance to get back to winning ways, but his main concern will be Palmer’s fitness.

For now, it’s back to Cobham for recovery before preparations quickly begin for their fourth away fixture in a row.