Fast Start, Right Intentions:-
Man United 2, Chelsea 1. And yes, made it difficult for ourselves in the second half with Trevor Chalaba’s, you know, late goal. But essentially, we didn’t collapse. We didn’t capitulate. Ganacho didn’t even get off the bench. Yeah. Now, let’s just start right at the beginning of the game. Chelsea down to 10 men. Why? Because we made them down to 10 men. First couple of minutes, we started bright. We started putting balls in behind. We were bright. We were positive.
Bruno Breaks the Deadlock:-
And that divy Sanchez comes out and cleans out on Bo. Yeah, perfect. Perfect start to the game. Perfect start to the game. But guess what? You still have to go and do the damage. You know, against 10 men, you can say that Chelsea could be resolute. What are we going to be like up against a low block? The confidence isn’t high. We’re not scoring goals. But no, bang. Bruno scores. Bruno scores. We’re playing on the front foot. We keep the ball moving well. We keep recycling the ball.
Casemiro Makes it Two… Before Changing the GameL:-
Chelsea under pressure and we get that all important first goal which was listen that’s what the automated offside is there for at the end of the day we had to get the first goal we had to open up the floodgates and then when it was 1 nil you’re saying know it’s cliche go and kill the game go and get the second go and get the second and Casemiro does just that and in that moment up until 2-0 we were absolutely fine we were using the ball well we were making good decisions on the ball yes Sesko may have had limited touches etc., etc. But we’re playing the game in the right way. We’re playing the game in the right way. A game that’s big, by the way, like we have to like we have to win. Do you know what saying? We have to The manager’s been ing about he’s waiting for that moment where where Sir Alex got it of that that one result that starts to change things. Don’t know if this is that. Park that. But the only way to find out, the only way to start something is by winning a game .
The Red That Gave Chelsea Life:-
We haven’t won backto-back games. the clock reset back to zero because we got spanked against City. So, don’t don’t care how the win comes. You’re 2-0 up. You’re in complete control of the game. Now, the Casemiro situation changes everything. t changed everything. Now, do feel like that was a red card offense, i.e. a second yellow in Casemiro’s case? Probably not. Don’t think that that really meets the threshold for a second yellow. The unwritten rule, and say unwritten because it’s who knows what it really is these days, but for me, in opinion, don’t know what you guys think, but the unwritten rule is basically that if you’re on a yellow, the threat the threshold for the second yellow is a little bit higher, i.e., you can commit a foul.
Second-Half Management: Sloppy but Sufficient:-
If Casemiro wasn’t on a yellow, if Chelsea wasn’t down to 10 men, don’t believe Casemiro gets a yellow card for that offense. However, when you’re when you’re as experienced as Casemiro is, when we’re 2-0 up, when you can let the player run, you can let the player get past you, you don’t need to make that challenge. You don’t need to make that challenge. And Casemiro jps in and he makes that challenge. And that gives the ref the opportunity. It gives them the chance to even it up. It gives them the chance. Even though the Robert Sanchez red card was as clear as day, it wasn’t like it was contentious.
Chalobah Strikes: Flashbacks to Past Collapses:-
This is the Premier League.We know what the refereeing is like in this country.So, the referee’s had a bit of a stinker, but at the same time, if you’re on a yellow card, it’s a challenge that Casemiro doesn’t have to make. t doesn’t have he doesn’t have to make that. But we get in 2-0 at Halime. And it’s about game management. Cuz at the end of the day, it at Halime. There was no excuses, none whatsoever for basically having to, you know, look at that situation and say, “Well, tell you what, tell you what, why have like you shouldn’t, you shouldn’t be, you shouldn’t be capitulating from 2-0 up and it’s 10 v10. Do you get that? t’s 10 v10 and they’re 2-0 down.” And also because we were so good and forced them into being 10 down to 10 men, they’ve had to take off Palmer, they’ve had to take off Estal and they had to take off Pedro. So that’s three top attacking players that Chelsea have had to take off versus us where we’ve got Kuna to bring on. We’ve got Xerxes to bring on. know he didn’t get off the off the bench. You’ve got Kobe Many to bring on. You’ve got Mason Mount to bring on and we’re two- up. So for me there shouldn’t be there shouldn’t be any discrepancies about getting a result.
Sub Bench Depth Was There—But Unused:-
There shouldn’t there shouldn’t but in true Man United fashion we still made it difficult for ourselves because second half was about game management but at the same time we didn’t keep the ball well enough. We didn’t put the Chelsea goalkeeper under any siege. don’t think we had any shots on target any shots on target in the second half until Bruno had the shot in anger after after Trevor Chalaba already scored like that wasn’t good enough like what a good team does in that moment and say it’s fine we’re two nil up it’s 10 v10 we go again the same way when it was 11 v11 we stuck it on them like you go for it again but we do have a 2-nil lead a two-nil cushion to kind of sit back on and and and and see the game out and game management now didn’t have to make a save Now, the goal was the goal, but other than that, Chelsea wasn’t under siege.
No Individual Stars, But Collective Grit:-
They wasn’t having loads of the ball in terms of they’re peppering us and this, that, and the other. We did manage that that pretty well. But that all important goal for Chelsea did come. And then you’re thinking, right, are you pricks going to capitulate? Are you going to capitulate, but they didn’t? They didn’t capitulate. And look, it can you look at the problem that you’ve got? Can you look at that win and say, “Bang, the season starts now. You go to the GTech. Tell you what, we’re looking good. This that. t wasn’t that type of win. t should have been more comfortable than it was. Similar to Burnley. Similar to Burnley. Like know that was 11 v1 11, but the chance we had in the first game, the game should have been out of sight. With Chelsea being down to 10 men and us being 2-0 up, that should go on to be threes and fours and you have a comfortable evening. There’s loads of rotation. You bring on the subs. t’s a nice comfortable evening for everybody. But in true Man United fashion, we didn’t allow that to happen.
Not a Statement Win, But a Necessary One:-
So when we got slapped by City, the clock restarts back to the to the to zero again. So now we’re back to one game. Can you go to Brentford away next next week and win? That’s the challenge. And then if you can do that, can you start to build a little bit of moment at home to Sunderland? Time will tell. don’t know. don’t necessarily need to about that because at the end of the day, this wasn’t the type of win that fills you with the confidence to take into that. However, it’s Chelsea. The narratives were there, you know, Cole Palmer, Kaisedo, Ganacho off the bench, all of these things were there, but we didn’t allow that to materialize and that we deserve credit for.And then most importantly, we punished them. That is something that wasn’t confident on. We’re down, they’re down to 10 men. Can we punish them? Not by getting one, but by getting two goals.
Final Word: Ugly, Scrappy, Necessary:-
And effectively, that’s what’s won us the game. So us being in a good period at the moment when there when we had the nerical advantage is what seen us over the line. It’s as simple as that. Delict, he was good. He was strong, who else was good. t was a t was a weird type of performance. It’s not like anybody really stood out individually, but as a team they did what was needed and that’s all care about.