United hold on for nail-biting 2-1 win over Chelsea in 10 vs 10 battle royale

Manchester United did well to hold on for a hard-fought 2-1 win over Chelsea on Saturday evening.

Following a disastrous 3-0 defeat to Manchester City last weekend, Man United were looking to bounce back against another formidable opponent, this time in front of the Old Trafford crowd.

First half

With the rain beating down, United got off to a bright start, pressing into Chelsea’s final third.

Patrick Dorgu thumped a surgical cross to Bryan Mbeumo, whose well-struck header was saved by Robert Sanchez.

Drama hit in the fourth minute, when Mbeumo got on the end of a long ball from Altay Bayindir and beat the last defender. With only the goalkeeper standing between him and the goalposts, Sanchez brutally kicked Mbeumo in the knee, bringing him down and receiving a straight red card in the process.

There was no argument from the Chelsea shot-stopper, who knew that there was no excuse for his dangerous challenge.

United received a free-kick on the edge of the box, a clear goalscoring opportunity. Bruno Fernandes thumped his free-kick into the wall, with Mbeumo’s follow-up doing no better. Corner to United.

While the corner found Harry Maguire, backup goalkeeper Filip Jörgensen did well to clear the danger. Following another corner, Amad Diallo received the loose ball on the edge of the box, hammering a shot that was blocked by a rigid defence. United looked determined to capitalise on their numerical advantage.

Suddenly, United got their breakthrough. Mbeumo crossed the ball to Dorgu, whose header found Fernandes, who burst into the box to bury the ball in the back of the net. Then, VAR intervened, with the United skipper closely aligned with the final defender.

After a prolonged wait, Old Trafford erupted as the referee awarded the goal. United’s persistence paid off.

Soon after the restart, United appeared determined to double their lead with a fast counter-attack. Mbeumo took a speculative shot from outside the box that he bent just over the crossbar.

Chelsea’s first decent attempt came from a corner, when Moises Caicedo received the ball on the edge of the box and struck it, only for Matthijs de Ligt to expertly block his shot.

United appeared to have scored again when Amad crossed the ball to Casemiro, who headed the ball into the net. Unfortunately, Amad had taken the ball out of play.

Then, in the 36th minute, Casemiro’s hard work paid off. Following a free-kick that led to a goalmouth scramble, Luke Shaw headed the ball to Casemiro, who hammered the ball into the goal from close range. 2-0 to United, with just a few minutes to go until half-time.

Marc Cucurella brought down Noussair Mazraoui with a rough challenge to earn a yellow card. While he spent some time on the ground, Mazraoui was ultimately able to recover and continue with the match.

Nine minutes of stoppage time were added following a drama-filled 45 minutes.

Four minutes into added time, it was United who went a man down. Casemiro was adjudged to have fouled Andrey Santos, receiving his second yellow card of the match and therefore his marching orders.

Suddenly, it was ten vs ten, meaning that United needed to be that much more alert in order to maintain their two-goal lead.

While United held on until the half-time whistle, they certainly needed to reorganise during the break in order to stay ahead of their opponents, who suddenly smelled blood. Manager Ruben Amorim clearly had some critical tactical changes to make at half-time.

Second half

Making some tactical calls was exactly what Amorim did.

Clearly looking to preserve his team’s lead, Amorim took off Benjamin Sesko for midfielder Manuel Ugarte.

Just past the hour mark, De Ligt was forced to make a critical clearance following a lethal ball into the box from Chelsea.

Then, off the corner, it appeared that Fofana pulled a goal back for Chelsea with an opportune header. While he was ruled offside, it was worrying to see Bayindir remain static, failing to seize control of his box from what was the visitors’ first corner of the match.

With little over 20 minutes to go, Amorim made a double switch. Mason Mount and Leny Yoro came on to replace Mbeumo and Maguire.

Mazraoui was taken off for Matheus Cunha, who was marking his return from a brief injury.

With little more than 10 minutes to play, all the pressure was on United. Trevor Chalobah got on the end of a cross from a corner to head in a goal for Chelsea.

Yet again, it was a corner that proved to be United’s undoing. What’s worse is that it was the visitors’ first shot on target all game. Still, United needed to do their best to hold off Chelsea for the remainder of the match in order to come away with a valuable win.

82 minutes in, Fernandes attempted to extend United’s lead with a strong long-range effort, forcing the keeper to tip the ball around the post for a corner.

While Chelsea launched a quick counter from their own box, Luke Shaw made an impressive sliding tackle to win back the ball for United.

In the 87th minute, Kobbie Mainoo replaced Fernandes.

Despite Chelsea dominating possession in the second half, United clearly hadn’t given up on chasing a third goal, continuing to push forward.

Seven minutes of stoppage time were awarded, meaning United still had a massive task ahead of them as they sought to maintain their lead until the final whistle.

Chelsea began pushing hard for an equaliser in the final minutes of stoppage time, earning a corner. Fortunately, Bayindir was able to punch the threatening cross away.

Ultimately, United did well to hold on for what was a well-deserved win. Despite a tough contest, Amorim’s men did well to redeem themselves following their last match while giving themselves inspiration to continue improving their performances this season.

Starting XI: Bayindir, Mazraoui, De Ligt, Maguire, Fernandes, Dorgu, Amad, Casemiro, Mbeumo, Shaw, Sesko
Subs: Ugarte, Cunha, Mount, Yoro, Mainoo

Featured image Alex Livesey via Getty Images

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