United View: Reds back to winning ways

It’s unclear what to take away from Manchester United’s bizarre encounter with Chelsea on Saturday. 

The Reds took full advantage of the Blues’ early red card before being pegged back to ten men themselves, surviving a late scare to come away with an important win.

Ruben Amorim’s men needed a strong performance after last week’s derby defeat against a Chelsea side looking to bounce back from a midweek defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

A fast start from the Reds caught Enzo Maresca’s side off guard in the pouring Manchester rain, and within five minutes, the Blues found themselves a man down after Robert Sanchez clattered Bryan Mbeumo, denying a goalscoring opportunity.

Maresca ended up making three changes in the opening 21 minutes, sacrificing his sides’ attacking output for a defensive approach. 

However, to United’s credit, they did take full advantage of the situation, going two goals up through Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro.

But by halftime, the sides were level after Casemiro picked up his second yellow card. 

For someone of his level of experience, it was such a silly mistake to make, even if the second yellow was quite soft.

Thankfully, it didn’t cost the result, even after Trevoh Chalobah pulled one back for Chelsea with their only shot on target of the game. 

Even though they did make things harder than they needed to be, United did ultimately deserve to win.

Speaking in his post-match presser, Ruben Amorim said: “It was really important, I think we deserve 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 complicated that with the sending off [of Casemiro]. The second half, I think, we managed well, but in the end, the last 15 minutes were tough for us. They scored a goal, and then we suffer together and manage to win.”

It’s been a strange start to the season for the Reds, picking up seven points from their opening five games – the same number as last season. 

And although they were poor against Manchester City, they probably should have picked up more points from the other four games played.

The Reds often find themselves getting into good positions in the final third, helped by their press, but where they have struggled is making the correct decision in the final third, failing to turn these positions into shots or goals.

United currently sit top of the table in expected goals (9.81), and if they can start firing, it could be a turning point. 

Last season, United looked devoid of attacking threat at times, whereas now it’s more down to making the wrong choice in the final moments.

With a new frontline, it could just be a case of the new players still building an understanding with one another. 

And while there are still structural issues with the squad, being a clinical attacking team would make a huge difference to where Amorim’s team finishes this season.

And after facing Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea in their opening five games, United now have two favourable games in succession before the next international break – a trip to Brentford before hosting newly promoted Sunderland at Old Trafford.

Should United continue their winning run in these two games, it would take a significant amount of pressure off Ruben Amorim in what is his first full season as manager of Manchester United.