Manchester United breathed life into their stuttering Premier League season when goals from Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro earned them a thrilling 2-1 home victory over Chelsea.
A frantic first half got off to the worst possible start for Chelsea on Saturday when goalkeeper Robert Sanchez was sent off in the fifth minute for a flying lunge at Bryan Mbeumo, upending the United forward as he was through on goal.
The hosts, with just one victory to their name previously this campaign, made their numerical advantage count, with Fernandes and Casemiro putting United 2-0 in front inside 37 minutes.
Casemiro’s needless dismissal just before halftime evened up the numbers and gave Chelsea a way back into the contest, but Trevoh Chalobah’s late header was all the visitors could muster as a nervy United held on for a vital three points.
The pressure has been mounting on United coach Ruben Amorim after defeat in the Manchester derby last weekend left the Portuguese with a win record of just eight from 31 league games since taking charge last November.
The visit of Chelsea offered Amorim the opportunity to start rectifying that meagre return, with the Blues winless at Old Trafford since 2013. Sanchez’s rash tackle significantly aided the beleaguered United manager’s cause.
Along with the added setback of Cole Palmer being withdrawn through injury, Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca was forced into an early reshuffle, making three substitutions in the first 21 minutes, the earliest a side has ever done that in a Premier League game.
It was not long before Fernandes added to Old Trafford’s euphoria in the driving Manchester rain, the skipper nudging home his 100th goal for United in all competitions.
Casemiro then seemingly put United in an unassailable position after determined work from Luke Shaw to keep alive the attack, the veteran Brazilian heading in his first goal of the season.
A second booking soon turned Casemiro from hero to villain as he 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.
Even when chasing the game, Chelsea offered very little attacking threat until Chalobah’s header 10 minutes from time. United looked ragged from there on in, but Altay Bayindir remained largely untroubled in the home goal as the hosts held on.
Amorim praised United’s aggression and urgency in a post-match interview, although he wishes his side could have been more clinical to put the game out of sight.
“I have nothing to say to the critics, and most of the time they are right. Today, we won and it is a good day for us,” he told Sky Sports.
“We can lose against Grimsby, [but] we can beat any team. I’m just thinking about the next one. It is really good to win. We need the urgency to win again, that is really important for us.”
Maresca, meanwhile, lamented Sanchez’s early red card.
“We need to start the game better. We cannot concede a red card at Old Trafford after three minutes,” he said.
Elsewhere in the Premier League on Saturday, Liverpool maintained a perfect start in their campaign after Ryan Gravenberch scored and assisted in a 2-1 win over Everton at Anfield.
In another bad day for West Ham coach Graham Potter, his team lost for the fourth time in five games, going down at home to Crystal Palace 2-1.
Wolves lost at home to Leeds 3-1, leaving Vitor Pereira’s team bottom of the table and still looking for their first points after five games.
Trailing 2-0 at Brighton, Tottenham came back to salvage a 2-2 draw.
And former Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou got his first point as Nottingham Forest coach in a 1-1 draw at Burnley.
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