There was genuine talk in the press box in the second-half that play could be abandoned at Old Trafford. It was just pure speculation, nothing to it, but that is how bad the rain was.
Less than 36 miles up the road, Blackburn Rovers’ Championship clash with Ipswich Town was suspended due to heavy rain. The conditions at Ewood Park saw the water visibly impacting the ball – and it was the same in Manchester, yet play continued.
From Chelsea’s perspective, there would have been a few supporters – possibly not the ones who had made the mammoth trip up to Manchester – wanting the match to be stopped. That is how bad it was for the Blues.
A lot of the talk coming into the game was regarding Chelsea’s terrible record at Old Trafford in recent times. The Blues’ last win on the red side of Manchester was way back in May 2013 – and with United struggling at the start of the campaign, there was an expectation from some – but not all – that the hoodoo would end on Saturday evening.
Just five minutes in, however, that task was made increasingly difficult. A ball over the top led to Bryan Mbeumo latching onto it and rounding Robert Sanchez. The Blues goalkeeper then collided with Mbeumo and referee Peter Bankes had no choice but to send the Spaniard off.
Ten men, five minutes in. It was the very definition of a disastrous start from Chelsea.
Enzo Maresca’s gameplan was out of the window and the Chelsea head coach made a couple of changes straight after the red card. Which brings us to our first talking point:
Maresca tweak proved costly
On came Filip Jorgensen for Estevao Willian, who can count himself incredibly unfortunate for his return to the starting line-up lasting just six minutes. That was always going to happen, Jorgensen coming on for an outfield player, but it was the other change Maresca made that shocked some supporters.
Tosin Adarabioyo replaced Pedro Neto. So, just like that, Chelsea were now playing without their two wingers. Instead, the Blues switched into what looked like a 5-2-2 effectively, with Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro the two strikers.
Maresca went with a back five at Old Trafford and that, along with Chelsea having a man less, invited pressure on Jorgensen’s goal. Inevitably, Bruno Fernandes put United into a deserved lead, with some sloppy defending allowing the Portuguese to volley home from close range.
Even after United had taken the lead, the Red Devils kept pushing and Chelsea had no way of dealing with it. The second goal from the Blues’ point of view was an absolute calamity.
Reece James messed up his clearance, then Jorgensen should have come and claimed it. Failing that, one of James, Wesley Fofana or Enzo Fernandez needs to meet the ball, but instead Luke Shaw, who stands at 5ft 10in, won the header. Shaw’s header found Casemiro, who headed in from close range.
Maresca eventually returned to a four-back formation on around 64 minutes and Chelsea looked more of a threat going forward from then on. Unfortunately, however, the Blues did not do enough to salvage a point.
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Palmer injury a long-term worry
Palmer has not been properly fit yet this season. Of course, circumstances with the summer’s FIFA Club World Cup meant the 23-year-old and his Chelsea teammates were restricted to a pre-season that lasted less than a fortnight.
The Blues’ No.10 played the full 90 minutes on the opening weekend of the season in the goalless draw with Crystal Palace. Palmer returned to training a couple of days later and was carrying a bit of a knock to his groin, though he continued to prepare for the game against West Ham United on the Friday night.
During the warm-up at the London Stadium, Palmer felt something in his groin and limped off, with Estevao replacing the England international in the starting XI. Palmer would then miss the win over Fulham eight days later, while not being selected for international duty with Thomas Tuchel aware of his fitness concerns.
After the two-week break, Palmer had a second-half cameo away at Brentford, where he changed the game for Chelsea. And just four days later, he completed an intense 90 minutes in Munich as the Blues fell to defeat against Bayern.
There were some question marks over whether Palmer would start against United given the tight turnaround and clear concerns over his fitness. Maresca, asked about the situation, said: “Cole, he tried this morning, he had a test this morning to play this game, he was not 100% fit. He made a fantastic effort to play this game, but he was not 100%.”
The Chelsea head coach was then asked whether there is a concern for Palmer’s long-term fitness, and replied: “Yeah, it’s a problem that it’s already a long time for him, he’s growing. Again, he did this morning a test, he wanted to play this game for the team, to be close, so the effort has been huge from him, but then after 20 minutes, he started to feel something, so we decided to change him.”
It is all well Palmer wanting to play in such a significant game. What footballer wouldn’t? Manchester United away, you do not get much bigger than that.
Surely, though, the club’s medical team would have raised concerns about Palmer potentially aggravating an issue that has been apparent in the early stages of the season. Fingers crossed it is not a serious one for Palmer, but perhaps he needs to be treated with a tad more caution in the future.
Snap Sanchez decision costs Chelsea
As soon as Mbeumo looked the favourite to retrieve Benjamin Sesko’s flick down, it was clear what was going to happen. Sanchez, rushing out of his goal, was running full charge at the United attacker. He could have pulled out, but he didn’t.
Maresca wishes he did. When asked whether he would have preferred Sanchez to not foul the player and potentially give a goal away, the Italian responded: “It’s the best solution, because we are still 95 minutes to play.
“I think even Robert is aware of that, but also it’s difficult because he has to take a decision in one second or two seconds, so it is difficult. But if you ask me, I prefer to be one goal down after three minutes than one player down after three minutes.”
A camera caught Maresca’s reaction to the foul from his goalkeeper. The Chelsea head coach seemingly went to throw his arms in the air in frustration but stopped himself before heading back down to the dugout shaking his head, with clear anger in his face.
As mentioned, it is a snap decision, one Sanchez has to make one way or the other. He chose the costly one. Mbeumo would have likely scored, granted, but Chelsea would still have fancied themselves to get back into the game with 11 men on the pitch.
United took full advantage of having one more player on the field and scored both of their goals when that was the case. As soon as Casemiro was red carded, Chelsea arguably had the better opportunities.
