United Review | Chelsea at home

United 2 - 1 Chelsea

Bruno Fernandes marked a huge milestone in style, hitting his 100th Manchester United goal on his 200th Premier League appearance as the Reds saw off Chelsea 2-1 in a wet and wild evening.

Author | Olivia T

The match burst into life inside five minutes when Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez saw red for hauling down Bryan Mbeumo outside the box. United made the most of it. Our skipper Bruno struck first on 14 minutes, calmly steering home from Patrick Dorgu’s clever knockdown. Casemiro added a second with a bullet header before the half-time whistle, only to be controversially sent off himself for a soft second yellow in stoppage time.

Even with ten men, United dug deep. Chelsea’s Trevor Chalobah pulled one back late on to set up a nervy finish, but Amorim’s side held firm to claim a deserved second league win of the season and hand the Blues their first defeat. The result lifts us into the top half and gives us a much-needed boost after the derby loss.

Amorim freshened things up with two changes from the City game. Harry Maguire started his first league match of the season at the back, while Casemiro returned in midfield. That meant Yoro and Ugarte dropped to the bench. Chelsea also made two switches after their Champions League defeat to Bayern, with Fofana and Estevao coming in. Notably, ex-Red Alejandro Garnacho was among their subs after his summer switch to London.

Fan reaction

Ronald: Ruben Amorim deserves credit for the way he is tackling the huge challenge of getting United back on track in the relentless glare of the Premier League. Casemiro’s red was incredibly naive for a player of his experience.

Stephen: A week ago, I was saying Amorim out, but now after this win and with us just three points off second, it shows how much one result can change things. It doesn’t hide the fact that we still made silly mistakes, but you can’t question the players’ commitment. That effort must lead to more positive results in the coming weeks. Matthijs de Ligt, by the way, is a beast of a defender and is massively underrated. Superb again.

Andy: The weather made this game almost farcical at times, and some of the refereeing didn’t help either. But what about the performance? Once again, United blew hot and cold. The system just doesn’t convince, and with the early red card and enforced changes, it was hard to see signs of progress. Defensively, it was steady enough, but the constant chopping and changing at the back and the midfield being too easy to play through are major issues.