It was a day when Manchester United defended in numbers, sacrificing all attacking ambition in pursuit of anything, to stop a council that had demanded the manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, and sent their Premier League season into meltdown .
It was far from beautiful, but with Ralf Rangnick looking far from the manager, who is set to step in until the end of the season, temporarily to the current temporary, Michael Carrick – the club got what they wanted.
Carrick had started with Scott McTominay, Nemanja Matic and Fred in front of the back four and it felt like a trick as Jadon Sancho stroked ready to put them ahead at the start of the second half. The goal followed after a terrible piece of control from Jorginho, after United had struck free after a free kick from Chelsea, and briefly flickered a strange thought.
It felt as if United would simply avoid another humiliation after them against Liverpool and Manchester City – the other title candidates – which had actually done for Solskjær. Could they somehow steal the victory?
Jorginho wanted to abuse them of the idea, and partly atoned for his lapse as he converted from the penalty spot after Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s silly mistake on Thiago Silva, then pushed Chelsea to the winner. Antonio Rüdiger was having a great game – if anything the pouring rain seemed to be spurring him on! 64 minutes into the game, Christian Pulisic had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. Rüdiger was well placed, just outside the six-yard field, only to burn high. For Chelsea, who saw their lead at the top of the table reduced to one point with Manchester City’s previous win, it was cruel.
United had arrived as the division’s worst team in recent form – just four points from seven games and 17 conceded goals in the period – and they set out to make themselves as solid as possible, Carrick doubled up on defensive midfield and did not start one or two. but three screening players.
Was Rangnick’s hand at work? Or was it just a reaction to United being without three of their first-choice back fours – Harry Maguire, Raphaël Varane and Luke Shaw? United invited pressure from the start, but for David de Gea they would have been behind early.
Hakim Ziyech was allowed to take it quickly by the referee, much to the dismay of the goalkeeper who wasn’t prepared. When Marcos Alonso headed a high Silva ball back, Wan-Bissaka got into a jumble and Callum Hudson-Odoi moved into Victor Lindelöf as if he were not there. The angle was narrow, and De Gea turned Hudson-Odoi’s shot past the far post.
Chelsea – who missed the injured N’Golo Kanté – toppled from ball possession, and in the rare cases where United had the ball in the first half, the home side flooded men around them, strangled them and tried to force turnover high up the pitch. They struggled to separate United before the break with their own work, though Rüdiger almost broke the deadlock with a bang outside the area. The connection was true and it was whizzing towards the crossbar. It was unclear whether De Gea had brushed the ball with his fingertips.
Carrick had insisted that Ronaldo’s reaction to being named among the successors had been “great”. It was simply a cold-headed selection decision that, in Carrick’s words, “did not need more drama than that.” All the best with it, Michael. He recalled Bruno Fernandes and started him off as a false nine – another decision outside the box – demanding that he lead the press with intensity.
Fernandes did, but he was mostly to be seen in deeper areas. In 36 minutes. he appeared on the left back and tried to ping a crossfield pass, which he got completely wrong, only picking Hudson-Odoi in the middle, five yards out of range. The attacker advanced, but could not gather force in his shot.
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United offered preciously a bit like an attacking force before the break, with Sancho taking a heavy touch on a long ball as he tried to break through, and Fred appealed in vain for a penalty kick against Rüdiger after grabbing him in an isolated United raid into the area. Fred simply ran into the big defender.
The burden was on Chelsea, where United were completely happy with 0-0 and to see if they could get something on the counter. And so they did. Jorginho had the perfect overview of it all after his aberration, and he had a sinking feeling long before Sancho beat Édouard Mendy. It was a nice finish where Sancho used Marcus Rashford to his left as a lure before rolling home.
United remained in their deep block, even though they flickered during the break for the first time, and Chelsea could feel the anxiety increase, especially when Timo Werner shot wildly into space after a corner kick.
Chelsea needed a break and they got one as Wan-Bissaka went through Silva as he tried to clear a corner. It was a mistake, a costly misjudgment of the out-of-shape right-back, and Anthony Taylor, the referee that Chelsea fans love to hate, gave the penalty kick. When Jorginho kept his cool, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving.
Wan-Bissaka returned to tackle Werner, Ziyech shot tightly at De Gea, and United almost hit it when Mendy sent directly to Fred, only to have the lob attempt completely wrong, with teammates available for a pass. Rüdiger’s later miss was more conspicuous.
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