By Zinny Boswell

Copyright skysports

Manchester United eased the pressure on head coach Ruben Amorim as they held on to beat Chelsea 2-1 in a frantic encounter which saw both sides down to 10 men.

United made a blistering start and caught Chelsea cold in the pouring Old Trafford rain as Robert Sanchez was sent off after five minutes for chopping down Bryan Mbeumo. Goals from Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro then put United firmly in control heading into the break.

However, Casemiro had levelled the playing field when he was shown a second yellow for bringing down Andrey Santos in first-half stoppage-time. Chelsea pulled a late goal back through Trevoh Chalobah but failed to truly take advantage of the opening to extend their nearly 13-year winless run at Old Trafford.

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United threatened to collapse but pulled through to secure Amorim’s first back-to-back Premier League home wins since taking charge. The second-half performance was unconvincing, but the three points will create some breathing space for now.

Man Utd hang on to deliver for Amorim

Amorim asked for more aggression this week and his players responded emphatically as they overawed Chelsea in the first half. Sanchez’s red was the earliest Chelsea had ever had a player sent off and it told. They were shellshocked.

It was the captain Fernandes who eventually got the ball rolling for United with his 100th goal for the club in his 200th Premier League appearance.

After all the debate around Fernandes’ position in Amorim’s system and whether it gives him enough license to get forward, the midfielder poked in a poacher’s finish to open the scoring after Patrick Dorgu’s header across goal.

Chelsea were all at sea by then and Enzo Maresca took evasive action to try and prevent the slide after Sanchez’s red card, making three substitutions with just 21 minutes on the clock, the earliest a manager has ever done so in the Premier League.

Cole Palmer was a surprise sacrifice for Chelsea, but it later became apparent that the groin issue he had supposedly shaken off after defeat at Bayern Munich on Wednesday in the Champions League was still bothering him.

Casemiro doubled United’s lead toward the end of the half thanks to a botched clearance from Reece James that allowed Luke Shaw to overpower Wesley Fofana and head the ball to the back post for the Brazilian to nod in.

His inexplicable decision to pull down Andrey Santos less than 10 minutes later opened the door for Chelsea. Casemiro shook his head after being shown red, as if he had been hard done by, but he should never have given Peter Bankes a decision to make with the game all but won.

Chelsea did not register a single shot on target until Chalobah headed in at the back post from James’ cross with 10 minutes to go. United had gone into their shells, fearing a late comeback, but there was not enough conviction from the visitors to capitalise on the wobble.

Alejandro Garnacho did not get the Old Trafford return he would have hoped for as he was booed by the home fans and denied the opportunity to enter the fray by a late injury to Fofana which used up Chelsea’s final substitution.

Maresca’s side return to west London after a sobering week: a draw at Brentford followed by defeats in Munich and Manchester. Chelsea are just one point ahead of United in the table after five games.

Fernandes: This is a massive win

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes to Sky Sports:

“Every three points is massive in this moment because we haven’t started the season as we wanted. But we go game by game. Today was massive and the next one will be massive too.

“Every goal is important. It doesn’t matter the moment. A big moment for me, reaching that milestone for a massive club. I’m very happy, I won’t hide from that, but it wasn’t something I was trying to achieve when I came to the club. It was about trying to do the best I could and obviously if I can get more goals to help the team win games, that is what matters the most.

“We were more sit back, try not to concede goals, not let them play through the lines as they have a lot of players who like to drop to play. It was about pushing them to the sides to cross the ball, as we had big players. We still conceded the goal from the corner, but we defended very well. We got the result we wanted in the end.”

Redknapp: Amorim’s biggest result as Man Utd boss

Sky Sports’ Jamie Redknapp:

“This is Amorim’s biggest result as Manchester United manager, certainly at home. This was huge for him today. It got edgy once Casemiro got sent off, you weren’t sure they were going to be able to see it out.

“But Bruno Fernandes was magnificent, second half especially. He carried the fight. It feels like a big occasion but they’ve got to build on it. They’ve got to go and win two, three, four games.

“It was a mad game, I have to be honest. Some of the substitutions, some of the tactical changes. It was hard to keep up with at times. But it was a joy because it was so chaotic.”

Amorim: We like to complicate our wins!

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim to Sky Sports:

“Really good. Now it’s time to create a bit of momentum. We started the game really well, really aggressive. I cannot remember a very good play from us, but we pushed our opponent in how aggressive we were in the first and second balls. We cannot have someone sent off near half-time in Casemiro, we like to complicate all our games! But it was a good game.

“I felt the urgency, especially in the beginning of the game. The sending off helped us. If you remember the first half, we had so many opportunities three against one, three against two. We have to be more clinical to finish the game sooner. With the sending off of Casemiro, you never know what is going to happen so we have to take the chance to kill the game.”

Maresca: Our game plan went in the bin after five minutes

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca to Sky Sports:

“Very difficult because after three or four minutes with the red card, it completely changed the game. All the plan is in the bin. So it was very complicated.

“[Sanchez’s red card is] a situation that we can avoid because we knew these kind of long balls for Benjamin Sesko, they try to flick for Mbeumo. We knew that. Unfortunately we conceded that moment. When you are one player down, it becomes completely difficult and changed the game.”

Explaining his decision to make three changes after the red card, Maresca added: “They are used to attacking with five players, so in that moment we have to defend with five players. We can defend absolutely with four when we are 11 vs 11, but when we are one player down, the idea was to defend with five.

“We decided to change with Estevao and Pedro Neto and the after we changed Cole because he made an effort to play this game because he was not 100 per cent fit. This morning he had a test and he was OK but not 100 per cent fit. So we decided to change him after 20 minutes.”

Chalobah: Not good enough, we’re not kids anymore

Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah to Sky Sports:

“We have to look at ourselves as players. It wasn’t good enough for ourselves, for the club. The first 15 minutes is the worst we’ve played this season. We have to reflect on that as a team and learn from this.

“With the red card that happens, you go 2-0 down in the game, any team you play against, it’s always difficult coming back. We struggled in the first half.

“It’s always difficult going down to 10 men and you can see that United were up for it. They put us under pressure. It wasn’t good enough at our end. We couldn’t get going in the first half.

“Things like this happen in the season. We can’t say we’re kids anymore, we’ve played in the Premier League long enough now. We have just got to learn from this and move forward.

Opta stats: Chelsea’s Old Trafford woes persist

Chelsea are winless in their last 13 Premier League away games against Manchester United (D7 L6), against no other side have they ever been on a longer such run on the road in the competition.Casemiro became the first player to score and be sent off in the first half of a Premier League match since Emmanuel Adebayor for Spurs against Arsenal in November 2012, and the first ever to do so for Manchester United.Three of Casemiro’s seven Premier League goals for Manchester United have come against Chelsea (43%). Indeed, against no other side has he netted more goals in his European Club career in all competitions (also 3 against Sevilla and Athletic Club).Robert Sanchez received Chelsea’s earliest ever red card in a Premier League game (5th minute), while it was the third-earliest red shown to a goalkeeper from the start of a game in the competition.Since his Premier League debut in August 2022, Manchester United’s Casemiro has been shown more red cards (3) than any other player in the competition.

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