‘We want our Chelsea back,’ was the song reverberating around Stamford Bridge as we neared the conclusion of this latest calamity, and indeed, this is not the club they know and love.
They cannot score. They cannot defend. For the first time since 1998, Chelsea have endured four consecutive league losses without so much as grabbing a goal for themselves.
When they last kept a Premier League clean sheet on January 17, Thomas Frank was still Tottenham Hotspur manager before Igor Tudor and Roberto De Zerbi – and Spurs were 10 points from safety. When they last scored in this competition on March 4, Artemis II was still a month from launching – and it has since been around the Moon and back.
Under Liam Rosenior, Chelsea are sleepwalking towards a season without European football, let alone the Champions League, and that could only go down as an excruciating embarrassment for the side with a shiny sticker on their fronts proclaiming themselves the champions of the world.
Before kick-off, there had been a protest against their BlueCo ownership, involving both Chelsea fans and Strasbourg supporters who had flown in from France to join in. One Metropolitan Police officer estimated 500 in attendance, though it felt bigger, both in its numbers and its significance.
Despite Chelsea’s custodians insisting they are ready to tweak their youthful recruitment strategy – co-owner Behdad Eghbali said so at a conference in Los Angeles this week – they have lost the trust of this fanbase. ‘F*** off Eghbali’ was another chant here at Stamford Bridge.
Liam Rosenior’s Chelsea fell 1-0 to Man United and there is a gap growing in the table
Matheus Cunha scored the solitary goal of the game at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening
Robert Sanchez was beaten by a fine strike and Chelsea could not capitalise on their chances
It all followed a familiar story. Chelsea created chances, took none of them as a force field seemed to surround Manchester United’s goal, and conceded flimsily. Wesley Fofana was off the field being treated for a rib injury after his own goalkeeper Robert Sanchez had barged into him, but all it took was one cross from Bruno Fernandes and one blast from Matheus Cunha. United are heading towards Champions League football. Chelsea are not.
In a televised interview before kick-off, Cole Palmer laid bare the importance of Chelsea finishing in the top five. ‘If we’re not in the Champions League, a lot changes, everything changes,’ he said. ‘We absolutely have to qualify for it.’ Read into that what you will.
United arrived so depleted in defence, it was as if they were daring Chelsea not to score after three consecutive blanks in their previous Premier League defeats.
There was no Lisandro Martinez – suspended. No Matthijs De Ligt – injured. No Harry Maguire – suspended. No Leny Yoro – injured. That left Michael Carrick with Ayden Heaven as his only senior central defender available. We say ‘senior’. He is 19 years old, cost around £1.2million from Arsenal, and in his nine starts in all competitions this season, United had secured just a single clean sheet. Now here he was, with right back Noussair Mazraoui beside him.
With Joao Pedro tweaking his thigh in training for Chelsea, Heaven was facing Liam Delap, who was starting a Premier League game for the first time since January.
United’s teenage defender flew into challenges throughout. He adopted an aggressive approach and believed in the timing of his tackles, though Chelsea were infuriated when one such instance saw Palmer hacked down.
Referee Michael Oliver awarding nothing infuriated Chelsea, whose mood worsened when their brightest winger, the 18-year-old Estevao Willian from Brazil, withdrew with an apparent hamstring injury after only recently returning from the same issue.
That handed an opportunity to Alejandro Garnacho at least. The Argentinian, still only 21, has not yet found form since leaving United for Chelsea for £40million last summer. Now he was facing his former side for the first time. The visiting fans had already been serenading him with unflattering songs from the warm-up. Shushing them would be a sweet feeling, and yet when Garnacho had his first opportunity to shoot, he seemed scared to do so.
The home fans chanted ‘we want our Chelsea back’ and ‘F*** off Eghbali’
Enzo Fernandez was back in the side following his two-game ban by the club
Chelsea were creating chances, but in what has been a familiar story for this side – both under Enzo Maresca and Rosenior – they failed to take them. Enzo Fernandez, back after his in-house two-game ban, struck the wall from a 20-yard free-kick.
Fernandez then curled wide another chance after outmuscling Noussair Mazraoui. Delap should have headed in one cross from Pedro Neto. Delap then did tap in, but saw it disallowed for offside against Palmer.
It was oh-so typical for Chelsea, as was the way they conceded the opener. That started with Robert Sanchez clattering into Wesley Fofana while punching clear a cross. It left the defender holding his ribs and in need of treatment. While he was off the field, Fernandes attacked down the right, crossed with Garnacho failing to stop him, and found Cunha for 1-0.
It represented Fernandes’ 18th Premier League assist of the season – with 20 the record set by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne. The Player of the Year award is in his sights.
It dashed any Chelsea hopes of a first clean sheet in the Premier League since Rosenior’s first home game in charge in this competition, and they had now gone more than five hours without scoring, too. Boos rang around Stamford Bridge at the half-time whistle.
When Moises Caicedo signed his new contract until 2033 this week, Rosenior had his video team put together a montage which they played at their morning squad meeting.
Caicedo’s family were there, his wife Paola Salazar and his one-year-old daughter Zoe, as the emotional Ecuadorian performed a speech in which he thanked them and God.
The victory was a significant one for Man United in their pursuit of Champions League football
Not a big talker, Caicedo. Shy in person, actually, which is at odds with how he performs on the pitch. Fernandez was back in the Chelsea team, but it was Caicedo wearing the captain’s armband in Reece James’ absence. They needed characters, now more than ever.
Delap heading into the crossbar from Neto’s cross injected life into the stadium, as did Palmer attempting to stab in a ball from Malo Gusto.
Mauricio Pochettino used to like telling us how the first time he truly connected with Chelsea’s supporters here was after an April 2024 night game against Manchester United – the one in which his side were losing 3-2 after 99 minutes and 17 seconds and then won it 4-3 in stoppage time.
Unfortunately for Rosenior, he never got his big moment.
