Manchester United welcomed Chelsea to Old Trafford in the Premier League on Saturday evening.
Altay Bayindir kept his place in goal while Leny Yoro surprisingly dropped to the bench for Harry Maguire. Matthijs de Ligt and Luke Shaw started alongside him.
Noussair Mazraoui and Patrick Dorgu were the wing backs while Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro formed the midfield duo.
Bryan Mbeumo and Amad started behind Benjamin Sesko in the forward line.
Here are five things we learnt from the match.
Bryan Mbeumo electric
The Red Devils got off to the perfect start when Bryan Mbeumo forced a red card for his team.
He brilliantly ran onto Sesko’s flick and easily beat Robert Sanchez to the ball. The Spaniard was left stranded and brought the Cameroonian down.
Mbeumo was a constant threat down the right hand side, giving the Chelsea defence nightmares in the first half.
Whilst it is too early to draw conclusions, Mbeumo looks like he could be one of the team’s best signings in years.
Bruno Fernandes comes up big again
The Portuguese international scored a vital last minute winner against Burnley last time out at Old Trafford.
He came up big again today, as he so often has done during his time in Manchester.
With the licence to play further forward due to United having a man more, he scored a great opening goal showing fantastic striker’s instinct.
Fernandes’ future is unclear past the summer but without doubt he will play an absolutely imperative role in the story of United’s season.
Casemiro stupidity
The Brazilian showed his best and worst qualities in a pulsating first half.
He showed great instinct at the back post to score United’s second, and it seemed like the Red Devils were in for a rare comfortable win.
Nonetheless, just before half-time he was sent off for a second yellow card on the stroke of half-time.
The yellow was a harsh one but it could be argued that he had no need to make the tackle whilst on a caution to allow the referee to make a decision. Certainly Ruben Amorim looked less than impressed on the touchline by the actions of his midfield general.
De Ligt excellent again
The Dutchman was terrific at home to Arsenal on opening day and once again showed his class in a big match.
He hounded the Chelsea attackers, often stepping up into midfield with great energy.
De Ligt pressed fantastically and also made some critical interceptions, none more so than clearing the ball as it flashed dangerously across goal in the second half.
United fans will be desperate for his good form to last deep into the campaign.
Crossing woes on show once again
The Red Devils had managed to hold on quite comfortably in the second half but once again their biggest weakness reared its ugly head.
United conceded late on when Trevor Chalobah headed in to put immense pressure on Amorim’s side.´
The defender had the freedom of Old Trafford to find the back of the net as once again United failed to deal with a cross hurled into the box.
The Red Devils cannot and will not make serious progress as a team until they learn to deal much better with this side of the game.
Featured image Alex Livesey via Getty Images
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
