Manchester United kicked off in a deluge and 17th place, and ended soaked-through and jubilant at a benchmark victory that lifts them to ninth. The win is notable as it can be used as the calling-card performance for the Ruben Amorim project. In the first half Chelsea were pummelled mercilessly by his United unit that was quicker, stronger, more menacing and just plain better than the club world champions.
After this, the conditions and Casemiro’s sending off at the end of the first half matched Robert Sánchez’s own early shower, and the teams levelled each other out.
An 80th-minute Trevor Chalobah header made it 2-1 – the defender rising between a dozing Leny Yoro and Amad Diallo to meet Reece James’s cross – but United passed the test of closing out the three points, and will be boosted sizeably by the evening’s work.
Four minutes in and Chelsea’s plan was torn asunder. An Altay Bayindir hoof took a Benjamin Sesko flick, Bryan Mbeumo ran on to the ball, eluded Sánchez, and the visiting No 1 took the Cameroonian down. Even before Peter Bankes raised the red card, Sánchez knew, as the last man, that he was off. This forced a rejig from Enzo Maresca that had Estêvão hooked for the new keeper, Filip Jörgensen, and Tosin Adarabioyo brought on for Pedro Neto, so the contest was over for both of Chelsea’s wide men.
