Premier League Player Ratings and Match Highlights

Manchester United defeated Chelsea 2-1 in a chaotic Premier League encounter on Saturday evening.

The hosts got off to a lightning-fast start, with Bryan Mbeumo going close to opening the scoring with a header in the third minute, and just one minute after that, Mbeumo was at the centre of play again. The Cameroonian found himself in on goal after Benjamin Sesko won a flick-on, but he was clattered outside of the box by Robert Sanchez, and the Spaniard was immediately shown a straight red card for the challenge, making it a nightmare start for Chelsea. Enzo Maresca opted to take off both of his wide men, Estevao and Pedro Neto, following the red card, which would’ve completely scuppered their game plan.

Chelsea’s start to the match went from bad to worse, as just nine minutes after going down to 10 men, Manchester United took the lead. Bruno Fernandes tapped the ball past Filip Jorgensen from close range after Patrick Dorgu headed it across goal, and after a lengthy VAR check, the goal stood, and Fernandes scored his 100th goal for the Red Devils.

Shortly after United took the lead, Maresca made yet another substitution, taking it to three in total in just 21 minutes. If taking off his two wide men wasn’t controversial enough, the Chelsea manager then brought off Cole Palmer, who is undoubtedly their biggest threat going forward. Palmer touched the ball just once during his time on the pitch.

In the 37th minute, United doubled their lead. Noussair Mazraoui whipped a good cross into the box, but Chelsea, and more specifically Reece James, failed to clear it. James sliced his clearance up in the air, and to meet it in the air was Harry Maguire, who headed the ball across goal into the path of Casemiro, who headed it into the back of the net from close range to make it 2-0.

Just 13 minutes after scoring his goal to give United a 2-0 lead, Casemiro was shown a second yellow card and the match was evened up, with both sides being down to 10 men. The Brazilian, who was shown his first yellow card in the 18th minute, brought down his fellow countryman, Andrey Santos, as he was breaking through on goal, and the referee was left with no option but to show him a second yellow card and send him off.

The first half ended with United in a 2-0 lead, but the game was far from over, as the game was evened up towards the end of the half, with Casemiro being sent off.

In the 63rd minute, Chelsea had the ball in the back of the net, but the goal was ruled out for offside. The ball was flicked on at the near post from a Chelsea corner, and the flick-on found Wesley Fofana, who headed it into the back of the net from close range, but the Frenchman was miles offside.

17 minutes after having a goal disallowed, Chelsea had the ball in the back of the net again, but this time it stood. Reece James whipped an excellent cross into the box, and Trevoh Chalobah, who was unmarked, guided his header into the bottom corner to give his side hopes of a late comeback.

Although Chelsea scored a late goal and piled the pressure on with hopes of a comeback, Ruben Amorim’s men saw the game out and secured all three points with a 2-1 win.

Match Highlights

Manchester United Player Ratings

GK: Altay Bayindir – 6/10

Didn’t have a single save to make during the match, and didn’t have much to do with the ball at his feet either.

RWB: Noussair Mazraoui – 7.5/10

Broke forward plenty of times with the ball and did well to press and win the ball back. Mazraoui kept Chelsea’s left side fairly quiet and put in a very well-rounded performance.

CB: Matthijs de Ligt – 7.5/10

Defended aggressively and strongly, and not much came down Chelsea’s left side at all, as he and Mazraoui put in good performances.

CB: Harry Maguire – 7.5/10

Solid as a rock in defence. Not only did Maguire provide an assist for Casemiro’s goal, he didn’t put a foot wrong defensively either.

CB: Luke Shaw – 7.5/10

Defensively, very solid and was also a very good outlet in possession, especially when United were playing the ball out from defence.

LWB: Patrick Dorgu – 7.5/10

Once again, a lively, creative threat for his side. The Dane provided a good assist for Fernandes’ opening goal, and put in several very good crosses throughout the match.

CM: Casemiro – 7/10

An up-and-down match for the Brazilian. Casemiro doubled his side’s lead in the 37th minute with a headed goal, but just 13 minutes later, he was shown a second yellow card and subsequently sent off for a silly foul.

CM: Bruno Fernandes – 8/10 (Man of the Match)

Scored United’s opening goal and once again, despite playing in a deeper role, Fernandes still managed to control the midfield at times and create some good chances.

RW: Bryan Mbeumo – 6.5/10

Did well early in the match to take the ball around Sanchez and draw a foul, which led to the Spaniard being sent off. Outside of that, Mbeumo didn’t have much to do, although he had some bright moments in the final third.

ST: Benjamin Sesko – 5.5/10

Didn’t really do much during his time on the pitch aside from providing a pretty good flick-on, which led to Mbeumo getting taken out by Sanchez early on. Sesko was taken off at half-time, and he is now without a goal or assist after six appearances in a United shirt.

LW: Amad Diallo – 7.5/10

Caused the Chelsea defence problems with his pace and trickery, and also managed to do well when he was put back at right wing back later in the match.

SUB: Manuel Ugarte – 6/10

Didn’t really offer anything in possession of the ball, but played with a lot of energy and pressed well at times.

SUB: Matheus Cunha – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Mason Mount – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Leny Yoro – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Kobbie Mainoo – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

Chelsea Player Ratings

GK: Robert Sanchez – 4/10

A nightmare match for the Spaniard. Sanchez was shown a straight red card just five minutes in, and there can be no argument around the referee’s decision to dismiss him.

RB: Reece James – 7/10

Partially at fault for United’s opening goal as his clearance was poor. James partially redeemed himself though, as he provided an excellent assist for Chalobah’s goal.

CB: Trevoh Chalobah – 7.5/10

Dealt with Sesko well and was also good when playing the ball out from defence. Chalobah scored a fantastic header late in the match to give his side hopes of a comeback.

CB: Wesley Fofana – 7/10

Put in a pretty good performance, but he was taken off after 64 minutes after seemingly struggling with an injury. The Frenchman produced some important clearances and kept Sesko fairly quiet.

LB: Marc Cucurella – 6/10

The Spaniard looked a bit shaky defensively at times and didn’t really offer anything going forward either.

CM: Moises Caicedo – 7.5/10

Played with plenty of energy in the middle of the park and put in several big and important tackles. Caicedo was also pretty good in possession and strode through the midfield to create attacks on several occasions.

CM: Enzo Fernandez – 6.5/10

Saw quite a lot of the ball, but he didn’t really do much with it. Fernandez put in a safe and steady showing in the midfield.

AM: Cole Palmer – N/A

Taken off as part of three early substitutions by Maresca following Sanchez’s early red card. Palmer was substituted after just 21 minutes, and he had just one touch of the ball.

RW: Estevao – N/A

Taken off pretty much immediately in a tactical change following Sanchez’s early red card.

ST: Joao Pedro – 6.5/10

Made himself a nuisance against the United defenders and worked incredibly hard, but nothing fell for him in front of goal.

LW: Pedro Neto – N/A

Taken off pretty much immediately in a tactical change following Sanchez’s early red card.

SUB: Filip Jorgensen – 6/10

Produced a good save late into the match to keep out a powerful effort from Fernandes. Outside of that, Jorgensen didn’t really have a thing to do, but he definitely could’ve done better for United’s opening goal in terms of coming for James’ poor clearance.

SUB: Tosin Adarabioyo – 6.5/10

Had some shaky moments defensively where he didn’t seem to know how to deal with United’s pace going forward, but outside of that, he was solid and saw plenty of the ball.

SUB: Andrey Santos – 7/10

Gave Chelsea exactly what they needed after getting an early red card. Santos came on and played with plenty of energy and was a solid performer between both boxes.

SUB: Tyrique George – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Malo Gusto – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.