Manchester United laboured to a gritty 2-1 win over Chelsea after both sides were reduced to ten men in a frantic game at Old Trafford.
A chaotic first half
The Red Devils began the match in furious fashion with Ruben Amorim having clearly amped his players up before the first whistle.
United blitzed Chelsea for the first five minutes with the Blues pinned back in their own half. And a reckless challenge from Robert Sanchez on Bryan Mbeumo saw the goalkeeper sent off and Chelsea reduced to ten men.
Bruno Fernandes put his side 1-0 up shortly after with Casemiro then adding a second as United looked in cruise control. But the Brazil international picked up his own red card, courtesy of a harsh second yellow, and Chelsea’s disadvantage was levelled just before the half time interval.
The second half was something of an odd affair with the unrelenting rain making for a poor spectacle as both sides struggled with the conditions.
Chelsea scored towards the end with a brilliant header from Trevor Chalobah and poor defending from United. But Amorim’s men were able to hang on and grind out a much-needed win from a match they could not afford to lose.
At the heart of this hard-fought three points was De Ligt, who Amorim moved into the right-sided centre-back role – a decision which paid dividends after am imperious performance from the Dutch defender.
Dominant De Ligt
De Ligt finished the match with four clearances, three ground duels, two aerial duels, two tackles, two interceptions and one blocked shot.
He completed 42 of 49 passes for a success rate of 86% passing, and managed one successful dribble, as well as great cross which almost led to a goal.
These are impressive defensive statistics – courtesy of Sofa Score – but they do not capture the intensity or commitment the Netherlands international demonstrated through every minute of the match.
Amorim has usually started De Ligt in the centre of his three-man defence. But he was shifted into the RCB role – in place of Leny Yoro – with the Portuguese coach having previously spoken about the issues with the ‘outside’ centre-backs not stepping up to support the midfield pivot.cl
Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system has been subject of intense criticism because of the overload it places on his midfield. But the antidote to this is for the centre-backs to aggressively push up and support the pair ahead of them.
De Ligt, along with Luke Shaw, performed this role consummately, often ending up even further forward than Bruno Fernandes or Casemiro in the first half – and the effect was obvious from the start.
Even before Chelsea went down to ten, United were suffocating Enzo Maresca’s side due, in part, to this front foot defending De Ligt was foundational to. He was immense – and Yoro will face a difficult task wrestling back the RCB role from him in United’s next match.
Featured image Jan Kruger via Getty Images
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Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
