Manchester United lost 4-3 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night in what was a chaotic match filled with end-to-end action.
Following a frustrating draw away at Brentford, United were hoping to return to winning ways with a cheeky away win against a struggling Chelsea.
United got a quick breakthrough within a minute, as Antony received the ball in the box. While he attempted to take a shot, he was blocked by Moises Caicedo.
Four minutes in, United’s defence capitulated. Malo Gusto made a through ball from the right-hand side to Connor Gallagher, who grabbed an early lead for Chelsea. While Gusto’s pass took an unfortunate deflection, the defence clearly failed with their marking as Gallagher was allowed to race into the box unattended.
Antony attempted a curling effort from the edge of the box to try and level the scoreline, however his effort was caught by Dorde Petrovic.
While United continued launching counter-attacks, they appeared predictable, with the defence easily cutting out each effort.
Following a Chelsea corner, Marc Cucurella had a prime opportunity to score when he collected the ball at the edge of the box, only to boot it over the top.
Moments later, Nicholas Jackson was on the attack, threatening United’s defence yet again when Raphael Varane did well to intercept.
16 minutes in, Kobbie Mainoo did well to send a threatening cross into the box, which Alejandro Garnacho unfortunately wasted by blasting the ball over the top.
A minute later, disaster struck yet again, when Chelsea launched a counter. Antony’s knee made contact in the box with Cucurella, with the referee awarding a penalty.
Cole Palmer stepped up to take the penalty, sending Andre Onana diving the wrong way to double the home side’s lead. A horrific start to the night for United, particularly against a team in 12th place on the Premier League table.
Following the restart, Diogo Dalot carelessly stuck his leg out to foul Palmer on the edge of the box. He would be relieved that Axel Disasi’s header floated over the crossbar. Yet again, Dalot was at fault, allowing Disasi to blaze past him unmarked.
With 15 minutes left until half-time, United appeared to kick things up a gear as Dalot’s shot was deflected for a corner. While Bruno Fernandes’ corner was headed out of the box, Dalot collected the loose ball only to fire wide.
United earned a free kick on the edge of the box, with Fernandes’ effort blocked by the wall. The ball fell to Mainoo, who unleashed a venomous strike from distance that the keeper struggled to hold onto.
Three minutes later, Alejandro Garnacho capitalised on a Chelsea defensive error to put the ball past the keeper into the bottom right corner of the net, pulling one goal back for United. Suddenly, it appeared that the visitors were back in the game with a fighting chance.
Minutes later, however, Chelsea were back on the attack, with Enzo Fernandez taking a quickfire shot that Onana did well to parry. Clearly, United cannot afford to lose focus.
A moment later, United were back on the attack, with Dalot expertly directing a cross into the far corner of the box for Bruno Fernandes to head home United’s second, levelling the scoreline.
The excitement refused to end, with Chelsea back on the attack as Mudryk took a shot that Onana did well to hold onto.
Five minutes of added time were announced, with Chelsea yet again pressuring United in their final third until Gusto was ruled offside.
On the stroke of half-time, Gallagher came within inches of scoring again when his shot slammed into the upright. Raphael Varane began to experience discomfort, triggering concern from United’s bench as his further involvement in the match was brought into question.
Ultimately, he remained on the field as the referee blew for half-time, bringing a pause to a match that had so far been filled with end-to-end action.
Jonny Evans replaced the struggling Varane, starting the second half for United. Despite the injury setback, Erik ten Hag’s team came out guns blazing for the second half, streaming into Chelsea’s final third. Even Harry Maguire got in on the action, taking a shot that skimmed over the crossbar.
Enzo Fernandez and Palmer enjoyed a quick one-two, easily beating United’s defence only for Evans to block Fernandez’ shot.
It appeared that the end-to-end football was set to continue in the second half, with United bringing an end to Chelsea’s attack and then countering themselves. While a decent move, Fernandes skied his shot from close range, wasting a prime goalscoring opportunity.
In what appeared to be Sunday League-level defending from Chelsea, Rasmus Hojlund cut out a pass by Disasi and took a shot that was deflected out for a corner. Both teams’ antics continued, with Casemiro heading the ball over the crossbar.
Given both sides’ continually growing list of errors, it appeared as if the winner would be the one who capitalises more often on the other team’s mistakes.
Palmer cut into the box and took an opportunistic strike, with Onana making a full-stretch save to tip the ball over the crossbar.
In the 65th minute, Willy Kambwala came on for Evans, who appeared to suffer an injury of his own, while Marcus Rashford replaced Rasmus Hojlund. Clearly, United have much work to do in order to better manage their players’ injuries, especially in defence.
Moments later, Antony showed great vision to play an ingenious pass through to Garnacho, who scored his second goal of the night to grab the lead for United after being two goals down. Yet again this season, United looked to have pulled off an unlikely comeback, going 3-2 ahead after being 2-0 down after 19 minutes of play.
With 15 minutes to play, Scott McTominay came on to replace Casemiro. United’s joint top scorer in the league, McTominay would be raring to grab another to extend his team’s lead.
Chelsea continued pushing for an equaliser during the closing stages of the match, with Kambwala doing well to block a cross before heading the subsequent corner out of danger. With six minutes to play, Garnacho came off to applause from the United fans and a barrage of boos by the home fans, substituted for former Chelsea player Mason Mount.
The home side continued to push, camping in United’s penalty box only for the defence to hold steady, thereby denying the home team any sight of goal.
Following several ineffective corners by Chelsea, Noni Madueke decided to try his luck from long range, with Onana comfortably catching the shot.
As the match entered eight minutes of stoppage time, United did well to maintain possession, thereby frustrating Chelsea and influencing a foul on Fernandes to earn a valuable free kick in the home team’s half.
With just three minutes left to play, Dalot pulled down Madueke in the box to hand Chelsea a penalty. Yet again, Palmer marched to the penalty spot, yet again sending Onana the wrong way.
Just when it appeared that the match was at an end, Palmer scored yet again barely after the restart, with a bad deflection off McTominay, leaving United looking shellshocked. With Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford in the stands, Ten Hag’s job could be in even greater jeopardy after this result.
Starting XI: Onana, Maguire, Fernandes, Hojlund, Garnacho, Casemiro, Varane, Dalot, Antony, Wan-Bissaka, Mainoo
Subs: Evans, Kambwala, Rashford, McTominay, Mount
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