22/09/2025

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MONDAY | SEPT 22, 2025

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Reprieve at Old Trafford Amorim handed United lifeline thanks to 20 minutes of Chelsea chaos

T HE Theatre of Dreams maybe needed a miracle, and it got one courtesy of a nightmare for Chelsea stopper Robert Sanchez as Manchester United eased the pressure on boss Ruben Amorim. A storm was brewing over Old Trafford as the world champions came to town, the deluge of rain falling on a grey day in Manchester summing up the situation that the Portuguese found himself in this week. However, in the end the bizarre weather only foretold an equally ridiculous match, with the game eventually defined by a whirlwind opening 14 minutes that saw Sanchez sent off before United captain Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring. Amorim’s side started quickly but they were given a gift five minutes in as Benjamin Sesko rose highest to win a header that played Bryan Mbeumo clean through, with the winger taking it past the onrushing Sanchez before being scythed down. There were few complaints from the visiting side as Enzo Maresca brought on defensive reinforcements, but they weren’t able to hold on for long as that rain was accompanied by a deluge of United attacks, the visitors barely able to get out of their own half before Fernandes tapped in from close range to open the scoring on 14 minutes. Old Trafford was roaring and there was a sense that the afternoon could turn into a rout, with Chelsea’s misery compounded as they were forced to bring off Cole Palmer just after the 20-minute mark. And yet it was to get worse for the visitors, with a weak Reece James clearance eventually leading to United’s second, as Harry Maguire’s header set up a tap-in for Casemiro at the far post. But if many inside Old Trafford began to ask themselves just how many goals United could put past Chelsea, they were guilty of forgetting United’s capacity to make life difficult for themselves. Casemiro, often the guilty party in

United’s moments of rashness, went from hero to zero as he became the second player sent off, dragging down Santos near the box to earn himself a second yellow. And it was only to get more tense from there, with neither side really able to dominate the second half with the teams once again level in players, but it was the visitors who struck the next blow, Trevoh Chalobah’s impressive late header having felt somewhat inevitable given United’s performances in recent weeks. Amorim admitted that his team “complicate our lives every time” with rash decisions or silly mistakes, and while United dug in deep, it was an evening that was a far cry from these sides’ matches of old, a rivalry that once defined the Premier League (and even Europe) now discarded to a pair of sideshow soap operas. “It was really important,” United boss Amorim said of the result. “I think we deserved it, but we complicated our lives every time. “I think we started the game really well – really well in terms of the aggression and to push the opponent and to show that we were there, even to bring our fans with us. “Of course, the sending-off of the goalkeeper helped us a lot, but we were in control, we scored two goals. “And with everything going well, we (made things) complicated with that sending-off. “The second half I think we managed well, but, in the end, the last 15 minutes was tough for us. They scored a goal and then we suffered together and we managed to win. “Sometimes we have some moments that we feel an urgency to have a result,” Amorim said. “This team has shown many times that we have that urgency. “Today we won. It’s nice to win, but let’s forget that and return to that urgency. We need to win the next game. That is the most important thing. “Because in the big club it’s not that feeling, ‘Today is a really good game, let’s relax a little bit.’ “So, let’s return that urgency, we need to win the next one and that is the most important feeling we have to take for the next week.” – The Independent

Man Utd’s Casemiro (left) celebrates scoring the team’s second goal with Bruno Fernandes during their match against Chelsea. – AFPPIC

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