Key stats
- Manchester United have failed to score in four of their nine games; only Coventry City (five) have failed to score more often in the Premier League this season.
- Manchester United have failed to win in their last seven games in the Premier League; their last longest winless streak was from April 2025 to May 2025, a run of eight games.
- Cole Palmer has scored his 50th Premier League goal for Chelsea; in his 105th appearance, he's the third fastest to reach the milestone for the Blues after Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (84) and Diego Costa (85).
Highlights
Analysis
After a solid showing in the first half, Manchester United were severely outplayed by Chelsea after the break.
Match rerport
Following successive three-goal defeats, many will have been surprised to see Carrick take his place in the United dugout once more.
Yet, while Xabi Alonso is not under the same scrutiny, Chelsea’s defeat to rivals Tottenham Hotspur and a League Cup exit at the hands of Liverpool left him with questions to answer.
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In the first half, the Spaniard’s players clearly failed to find the right solutions, even if they went into the break on level terms. They started well, with Estevao causing problems down the right and firing the game’s first shot wide, before former Blue Andrey Santos curled past the post at the other end.
Estevao did have the ball in the back of the net around the quarter-hour mark, though his rebound from a Pedro Neto shot was chalked off for offside.
United then had the game’s best opportunity when they broke forward through Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes, but the latter could only fire over the bar when he really should have worked Mike Penders.
Amad Diallo was United’s standout performer, causing Wesley Fofana all sorts of problems.
The Ivory Coast international had two shots saved by Penders prior to Matheus Cunha heading in, only for the strike to also be ruled out for offside.
Ultimately, the closest either side went was when Fofana headed onto Moises Caicedo from a corner, with the ball then hitting the post and bobbling away to safety.
The main positives for Chelsea this season have come in the final third, and Morgan Rogers provided another moment of magic to break the deadlock shortly after the restart.
After Romeo Lavia had won possession in the middle of the park, the England international drove at the United defence before delicately lifting the ball over Senne Lammens.
With the game in the balance, United shot themselves in the foot to give Chelsea breathing space.
As a ball came in from a corner, Lisandro Martinez was looking at nothing but Fofana as he barged into him with a leading arm, and after a VAR review, Alonso’s men were awarded a penalty and the Argentinian received a second yellow.
Cole Palmer’s subsequent penalty was not his best, yet while Lammens got a strong hand to it, he could only push it into the back of the net.
That sequence ended the game as a contest, as Chelsea then circled the ball with ease.
They had the ball in the back of the net once more when Estevao hammered home, but he was narrowly offside when played in by Palmer.
Lammens then needed to be alert to deny the Brazilian again, but the damage had already been done.
This was an important win for Chelsea, and was only their third in seven Premier League seven games.
United, who saw Mbeumo rattle the bar in stoppage time, are in the doldrums and could end the weekend in the relegation zone with Carrick’s future up in the air again.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Romeo Lavia (Chelsea)
