Lisandro Martínez’s utterly foolish act costs Manchester United the lead against Chelsea
Manchester United suffered a painful 2-0 defeat away to Chelsea on Saturday afternoon. Michael Carrick's side lost at Stamford Bridge, where Lisandro Martínez conceded a penalty with a foolish challenge and received a red card. Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer scored for the Londoners.
Under pressure before kick-off, both managers needed a result. Xabi Alonso had endured a difficult spell with Chelsea, while Carrick's Manchester United had slipped to 16th in the Premier League. The visitors started well and created several excellent chances to take a first-half lead.
Chelsea thought they had gone ahead after a quarter of an hour when Estevão finished a swift counter-attack following good work from Pedro Neto. The Brazilian was offside, however, and the goal was ruled out. At the other end, Bruno Fernandes missed a huge chance after Bryan Mbeumo's excellent pass put him one-on-one with goalkeeper Mike Penders.
Manchester United kept threatening, with Mbeumo narrowly missing a cross from Fernandes. After 35 minutes, Matheus Cunha thought he had put the visitors ahead, but his goal was also disallowed for offside. Amad Diallo shot well over shortly before half-time, while Chelsea hit the post through an unfortunate touch from Moisés Caicedo.
After the break, the match quickly swung Chelsea's way. Caicedo won the ball from Mbeumo before Roméo Lavia found Rogers with a fine piece of play. The Englishman left Martínez and Harry Maguire behind, then delicately lifted the ball over goalkeeper Senne Lammens: 1-0.
Manchester United had a chance to equalise soon afterwards, but Cunha failed to connect with an excellent free-kick from Fernandes. Then things went badly wrong for Martínez. The former Ajax player was booked after 59 minutes for a foul on Rogers. Barely a minute and a half later, he went much further.
As Chelsea sent in a cross, Martínez charged straight into Wesley Fofana without looking at the ball. Referee Peter Bankes initially let play continue, but the VAR called him back to review the incident and he pointed to the spot. Bankes also showed Martínez a second yellow card, and the defender had to leave the pitch. Carrick did not spare him a glance as he walked off.
Palmer stepped up and doubled Chelsea's lead from the penalty spot in the 64th minute, despite Lammens getting a hand to the ball. Seven minutes later, Estevão thought he had made it 3-0 after excellent build-up play from Lavia and Palmer, but his goal was ruled out for a marginal offside.
In the ten minutes of added time, Manchester United came close to pulling a goal back when Penders tipped Mbeumo's superb long-range strike onto the crossbar. It finished 2-0, leaving the Red Devils in 16th place in the Premier League. Chelsea move up to fourth for now.
