3 November 2024
Man Utd 1 Chelsea 1
After the sacking of Erik ten Hag, a new era lay ahead for the Red Devils. Ruud van Nistelrooy had stepped in as interim manager, but it was going to be a short tenure. Ruben Amorim has been appointed as their new head coach and will be taking up his role soon. Meanwhile, Chelsea were the visitors to Old Trafford as they looked to continue their impressive start to the season.
This match on paper looked like it could be a cracker, that is until you realise that these are two teams who are currently living off former glories. Neither side has challenged for a title for some time and Champions League football seemed a thing of the past. It will take some time for either team to rekindle that success.
While ten Hag took the bullet for their current plight, the problems are far bigger than just simply changing the coach. After all, the last time Man Utd were a force, the Old Trafford roof used to keep rain out. Chelsea started well and forced an early corner. Madueke was completely unmarked at the near post but his header struck the outside of the woodwork.
The hosts mustered their first attack and won a free-kick after a clumsy Gusto challenge. Fernandes could only send his effort into the wall, much to the disappointment of the fans. Neither team could string any dangerous attacking moves together and the crowd were getting frustrated. People started pondering what else they could be doing with their Sunday afternoons.
Late in the half, a deep cross into the back post found Rashford unmarked. His half-volley clipped the upright as it went behind for a goal kick. That was as close to a goal as Old Trafford had seen in this game. Hopefully the half-time refreshments were to prove more enjoyable for the fans who had given up their weekend to make the trip up from the capital.
The second-half continued in the same vein. If the Premier League are looking to put a showreel together to pitch for more investment or advertising, it would be a wise move to include none of this game. It comes to something when even former Man Utd players Gary Neville and Roy Keane are saying they wished they had made other plans than their Sky Sports duties.
Neto had a brief glimpse of goal as he tried to put one in the far corner from a tight angle. It narrowly missed the far post but was the perfect metaphor for the game as a whole. Amorim has signed a three-year contract with the club, many think that is not long enough to sort out the Red Devils’ problems. Fans will be hoping he has some magic wand that he is planning to bring with him.
Hojlund and Fernandes combined well on the halfway line. The Man Utd skipper ran free down the right and immediately surged into the box. He took his time before picking a pass, finding Garnacho unmarked with the goal at his mercy. The scuffed shot he put into the hands of Sanchez wouldn’t have looked out of place in a Sunday league game on most parks pitches.
Casemiro picked the ball up out wide and played a pinpoint pass into the path of Hojlund in the box. The modern game baffles most weeks. The Man Utd striker knocked it around Sanchez who then seemed to clip his boot with the slightest of contact. The Danish striker then threw himself in the air like he had stepped on an IED.
The referee pointed to the spot and VAR decided there was no clear and obvious error. In reality, if video technology was to do what is needed in the game, they would have said to the referee….there was slight contact, not enough to send him down like that, book the player for simulation. There is no danger of that happening though with Howard Webb as the ringmaster of this group of clowns.
Fernandes stepped up to take it and sent Sanchez the wrong way as he finally broke the deadlock in this game. Van Nistelrooy ran down the touchline fist-pumping the air like they had just won the Premier League. While you have to admire the passion it does come across as unnecessary given the bland nature of their performance in this game.
Neto made a break for the visitors and danced past three challenges to win a corner. Casemiro headed clear to the edge of the box, where it dropped to Caicedo. He struck a superb volley into the bottom corner to draw The Blues level. Man Utd’s lead lasted all of four minutes. Now that celebration from the interim manager seems regretful.
Chelsea then had a huge chance to win the game. Once again the hosts’ defence looked like some sort of under-10s game. Jackson held it up and laid it off to Fernandez just outside the box. With Onana unnecessarily off his line, all he had to do was lift it over him. Instead the £100m+ signing put his effort over the crossbar.
Garnacho then had a chance to get an important winner but his first-time shot narrowly missed the top corner of the goal. Moments later a ball dropped to Fernandes in the box, with all the time in the world. He wildly smashed the ball into row M of the crowd. Terrible effort from the Man Utd skipper. We have come to expect better from him.
Martinez was penalised moments later for a clumsy challenge in on Palmer that caught him on the knee. The referee showed him a yellow card but the VAR review did not upgrade it. How and why only the excuses of Howard Webb will tell us. It was a stonewall red card by anyone’s stretch of the imagination. The Premier League is the best in the world, marshalled by the most incompetent officials globally too.
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