Why Can’t Chelsea Win at Old Trafford? The Maddening Man United Curse | OneFootball

Let me transport you back to May of 2013. In the UK Music Charts, Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” is number one. Iron Man 3 is top at the box office. Barack Obama is only five months into his second term as President. This was also the month when Chelsea last beat Manchester United at Old Trafford.

A single goal by Juan Mata gave interim Rafa Benitez a huge boost in the race for Champions League qualification. Man United had already won the league title under Sir Alex Ferguson, who was weeks away from departing from his throne. This game also sparked the iconic smile and wink from David Luiz, rolling in pain on the floor to only then gaze at fans shouting “Sideshow Bob” in his direction.

Fast-forward to 2025. Manchester United have not won a league title since then. They have gone through seven managers, a seemingly never ending melodrama of ex-players stating “But This is Manchester United” as the club falls further from its once seemingly secure perch.

The viral afro of a man refusing to cut his hair until United win five games in a row, should try the “I won’t cut my hair until Chelsea win at United” challenge. Rapunzel would be filling for copyright infringement.

Despite Chelsea claiming a further two league titles, a Champions League and many domestic cups since 2013, they have trekked up the M6 and put in a series of poor performances.

The record since 2013 is 12 played, five lost, seven drawn. Jose Mourinho, Guus Hiddink, Antonio Conte, Maurizio Sarri, Frank Lampard, Thomas Tuchel, Lampard again, Mauricio Pochettino and Enzo Maresca have all visited without success.

It remains puzzling due to the failings of United. The consistent crisis engulfing the club in the decade since that never seems to be enough for Chelsea, who appear incapable of producing their best.

There is no doubt that ‘big games’ have a different energy to them. Even Maresca admitted as much when Chelsea narrowly beat United 1-0 at the Bridge back in May.

“I said today to the players, United beat City at home, drew with them at home, drew with Liverpool, drew with Arsenal, they know how to play big games. So it was very difficult to win the game tonight.”

Even if United were 16th, awaiting their grim fate in Bilbao days later, a nervy Chelsea 12 places higher had to wait for a 71st minute header from Marc Cucurella to unlock a bottom half opponent.

The closest Chelsea came was in late October of 2014, when Robin Van Persie’s 94th minute leveler snatched an unlikely point for Louis Van Gaal. There have been painful hammerings in 2019 and 2023. Signals of discontent within the Chelsea camp, losing 2-1 in both 2018 and 2023. Games where Chelsea seemed to have a foothold, only to collapse. There have been many boring draws in there too – sometimes used to plaster the underperformance of both clubs.

This Saturday night presents the next opportunity to end this wretched curse. There is ammunition following two disappointing outings away. First at Brentford and then at Bayern. Ruben Amorim is quickly losing trust, seeing United so convincingly swatted aside in the Manchester derby. Does he or his players even know what to do?

However, Chelsea fans are not fickle. They will have seen all of this foreplay before. Man United seemingly in chaos, on the brink of mass implosion. They are there for the taking. To only then watch Chelsea’s incredible superpower of lowering their levels to inject United’s lifeless corpse with energy.

Logic and recent form does not just go out of the window. It is placed in a cannon, launched into outer space and blown up across the galaxy.

Who knows what happens on Saturday evening? The smart money is on Daft Punk still being a neat historical reference for this piece in 2026.

You can follow my coverage of Chelsea on YouTube at SonOfChelsea. More written coverage of the club on Substack. Follow me on X for more thoughts, along with listening to the podcast.