How Ruben Amorim needed this, a game which finally went Manchester United’s way on a wet and wild evening at Old Trafford.
A kamikaze decision by Robert Sanchez that saw the Chelsea goalkeeper sent off inside four minutes. A hair’s breadth offside decision that allowed Bruno Fernandes’ opening goal to stand. Cole Palmer off injured inside 20 minutes as Enzo Maresca was forced to send on three early substitutes.
Casemiro’s dismissal at the end of the first half after he had put United two goals in front evened up the numbers, but not even United could mess it up from that position as the two teams of 10 men splashed around in the puddles despite Trevor Chalobah pulling one back late on.
United would argue that they are due some good fortune this season. The feeling inside Old Trafford is that one win in the opening five games has not reflected the performances. In that sense, this was overdue.
But Amorim has acknowledged repeatedly that his team need wins to ward off an early-season crisis and United deserved this one as they handed Chelsea a second defeat of the week.
Amorim responded to losing last weekend’s Manchester derby by dropping Leny Yoro and Manuel Ugarte to the bench, and reinstating Harry Maguire and Casemiro. Matheus Cunha and Mason Mount were also fit to be among the substitutes after missing the defeat to City through injury.
Man United’s 2-1 victory over Chelsea on Saturday night was a much needed one for Ruben Amorim
Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring for United and was instrumental in the victory
Maresca also made a couple of changes from the Champions League defeat away to Bayern Munich which ended an unbeaten nine-game run, with Wesley Fofana and Estevao Willian replacing Tosin Adarabioyo and Malo Gusto.
Alejandro Garanacho, returning to Old Trafford just 21 days after leaving United in a £40million deal, was named among the substitutes once again but never got on the pitch.
The young Argentina winger was booed by the home fans when he came out to warm up and again when headed down the tunnel shortly before kick-off after warming up in the rain.
It had been pouring for much of the day in Manchester and it felt as though the greasy conditions were bound to have an effect on proceedings. The game was less than three minutes old when Patrick Dorgu swung over a cross from the left which skipped up towards the back post. Bryan Mbeumo managed to get a difficult header on target but it was comfortably palmed away by Sanchez.
The next encounter between the two players did not go quite as well for the Chelsea goalkeeper. His United counterpart Altay Bayindir pumped a long ball upfield and Benjamin Sesko rose above Chalobah to flick on.
Mbeumo was away and in a split second Sanchez made the decision to race out of his goal. It was the wrong one. The Cameroon international lifted the ball past him and went down as Sanchez’s wild challenge on the edge of the D caught him on the left thigh.
After referee Peter Bankes awarded the free kick, a red card was a formality and the Spaniard was on his way. Maresca not only decided to replace Estevao with goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen but Pedro Neto with Adarabioyo as well.
There was no further damage for Chelsea at that point as Fernandes’ freekick hit the wall and Mbeumo volleyed the loose ball over, but a United goal wasn’t far off.
Robert Sanchez was dismissed for a Kamikaze challenge on Bryan Mbuemo early on
Casemiro later put the Red Devils 2-0 up with a header nodded in from close range
The Brazilian was however dismissed on the brink of half time after picking up his second yellow card
When Mbeumo crossed from the right in the 14th minute, Dorgu rose to head goalwards. It was all about the timing by Fernandes as he sprinted beyond Chalobah and lunged to poke home from close-range.
It was a close call and VAR official Craig Pawson took several minutes to conclude that the Chelsea defender’s right foot had played Fernandes onside.
As we waited for the outcome, Cole Palmer ran over to the touchline to inform Maresca that he had a problem and shortly afterwards he was walking despondently towards the tunnel as Andrey Santos became Chelsea’s third substitute inside the opening 21 minutes – the fastest any team has made so many changes in a Premier League match.
Everything seemed to be going against Chelsea and it got even worst in the 37th minute. A short corner was played to Noussair Mazraoui who swung a cross into the box where Dorgu kept it from going out of play. Reece James’ wild swing at the ball sent it soaring into the leaden skies above Old Trafford, and Luke Shaw ran in to rise above a melee of players and head towards the back post where Casemiro had the simple task of nodding home.
It was the Brazilian’s last meaningful contribution to the game before he was sent off in the fifth of nine minutes added on at the end of the first half, picking up his second yellow card for wrestling Santos to the ground. It felt like a soft booking but a silly one too given that there was little threat to United.
It was more even contest now and it brought Chelsea’s only chance of the first half deep into added time as Marc Cucurella fired over.
Alejandro Garnacho was loudly booed by the home support on multiple occasions throughout the evening
Trevoh Chalobah got the Blues back in the game late on but it wasn’t enough
Manuel Ugarte replaced Sesko at half-time to fill the gap in midfield, and it wasn’t the only plug needed at Old Trafford as more torrential rain during the interval left puddles on the pitch and spray flying off every kick.
Chelsea sensed there was a way back into this game and they thought they had pulled a goal back when Wesley Fofana headed in from close range at a corner but he was well offside.
Still, United never do things the easy way and Chelsea got the goal their second-half performance deserved in the 80th minute. James swung over a cross from the right and Chalobah rose to plant a header in the bottom corner.
Jorgensen’s flying save from Fernandes kept Chelsea in it, but United got there in the end.
