Manchester United 2-0 Chelsea: Red Devils Come From Behind To Seal 3 Points
A significant and scintillating second-half display from Manchester United saw them come back from behind to beat defending Champions Chelsea 2-1, with Romelu Lukaku equalising in the first half and Jesse Lingard scoring the winner. The match started off brightly for Chelsea, who played first fiddle and made sure United failed to get out of the blocks.
Alvaro Morata missed a sitter early on as he hit the post, which turned out to be vital later on. He was involved in a goal too, which was wrongly ruled out, as after a couple of replays, the Spaniard was clearly on-side. In the second half, the Red Devils illustrated more energy, won the 50-50 challenges and were the better side in midfield. Romelu Lukaku finally broke the top six hoodoo by scoring one and creating a beautiful second.
Here’s how Mourinho’s men fared on the day.
Manchester United Player Ratings
David De Gea: 5/10
A rare, shocking display from David De Gea. First, he misjudged the shot taken by Willian, which turned out to be the goal. Even otherwise, the shot-stopper didn’t claim the ball confidently, as he fumbled a few.
Antonio Valencia: 6/10
Not convincing always but a solid show from his side, more often than not. He exchanged some good passes with the wingers.
Chris Smalling: 8/10
Good in the air, fantastic in the box. Should have done better with Morata on a couple of occasions but otherwise, put up a brooding staging.
Victor Lindelöf: 7/10
Yet again, there were a couple of sloppy moments and clearances for him. However, he grew from strength to strength as the game went on.
Ashley Young: 7/10
Not spectacular, not weak either. Young lost a few battles due to the lack of pace and awareness but kept out passes, intercepted well and did his bit going forward.
Nemanja Matic: 8/10
Blocked the shots, chipped in with tackles, was neat in possession and while winning the ball back.
Scott McTominay: 8.5/10
He looked confident in the midfield, especially with his forward passing. Much like what Herrera did at Old Trafford last year, McTominay kept a check on Hazard and his skills.
Paul Pogba: 7.5/10
Excellent strength and composure to hold the ball. He picked the right passes, be it the through balls or scoops.
Alexis Sanchez: 6.5/10
Another one who lacked movement and the cutting edge. Sanchez hasn’t quite settled into the Manchester United shirt. Nonetheless, the intensity and work rate on his part was right up there, especially in the second half.
Anthony Martial: 6/10
The only thing that keeps his rating up is that calm and collected pass to Lukaku for the goal. Otherwise, Martial saw little of the ball and hardly got away from his markers to make an explosive run.
Romelu Lukaku: 9.5/10
Lukaku was full of strength, desire and drive this time around. After a slow start, he combined well with Martial and Sanchez to cancel out Chelsea’s lead. He tested Courtois the most and powered away from the Chelsea defenders.
Substitutes
Jesse Lingard: 9/10
Brilliant first touch since coming on and applied himself thoroughly like he has done all season. Excelled with his movement in the box to get away from the marker.
Eric Bailly: N/A
Came on in the 81st minute to replace Sanchez as Mourinho looked to protect his lead.