In a heated encounter that saw Chelsea and Manchester United both end the first half with 10 men, the Red Devils ran out 2-1 winners at Old Trafford to go 13 consecutive home Premier League (PL) H2Hs against the Blues unbeaten.
Under the pouring rain at Old Trafford, Chelsea’s hopes took an early blow just five minutes in, when Robert Sánchez, beaten to Benjamin Šeško’s flick-on, charged off his line and brought down Bryan Mbeumo.
The first match in Premier League history to see two or more goals, red cards and substitutions in the first half was settled by goals from United skipper Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro, who was the other player sent off before the break.
Enzo Maresca’s response to the red card was to take off both Pedro Neto and Estevao Willian and, as Cole Palmer had to be replaced after suffering a recurrence of a groin injury, Chelsea had lost three attacking players in the space of 20 minutes.
Trevor Chalobah pulled one back for Chelsea with a header 10 minutes from time but United kept their nerves at bay to make it to the final whistle with their lead intact.
The victory was the Red devil’s second of the season and came in front of minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who gave head coach Ruben Amorim assurances over his future 48 hours earlier.
It also means Chelsea have still not won at Old Trafford since 2013, when Sir Alex Ferguson was United manager.
