Luke Shaw has revealed what the mindset surrounding the Manchester United camp was going into their match against Chelsea, and reflected on the season so far.
Manchester United secured their second Premier League victory of the campaign, edging Chelsea 2-1 at Old Trafford with goals from Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro.
United began on the front foot and received an early boost when Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sánchez was dismissed inside five minutes for bringing down Bryan Mbeumo on the edge of the area.
Fernandes soon capitalised, opening the scoring with his 100th goal for the club, before Casemiro rose highest to head home United’s second. However, the Brazilian’s evening turned sour when he was shown a red card shortly before half-time.
Benjamin Šeško was withdrawn for Manuel Ugarte as Chelsea reshaped for the 10 v 10 battle, but their breakthrough only came in the final minutes when Trevoh Chalobah headed in from Reece James’ cross. Despite late pressure, United’s defence held firm and secured all three points on a rainy Manchester evening.
Shaw speaks on the positives to take from the win
Speaking to Sky Sports after his side’s win, Luke Shaw said: “We spoke a lot before the game about winning, that was the most important thing today. You could see how much we wanted to win.
“The whole team defended really well, and we’re happy with the three points. We started the game really well, really sharp and physical. We can punish teams with the chances we have created.”
After the victory, this is now the first time since Rúben Amorim took over that United have won back-to-back games at Old Trafford, and with games against Brentford and Sunderland coming up before the international break, this could be the perfect time to start to build up some momentum and get their season up and running.
Reflecting on his side’s start to the season, Shaw said: “The season is still early, and we have done well so far this season. We will be ok. For us, the most important thing is how clinical we can be and defending our box.”
United’s defence stood firm
Since the beginning of the season, United have performed well at times, but lapses in concentration and poor defending have led to too many mistakes, costing the side valuable points.
After the early red card for Chelsea’s goalkeeper, Enzo Maresca was forced into early substitutions, taking off Pedro Neto, Estêvão, and Cole Palmer, who wasn’t fully fit, meaning Chelsea’s attacking threat was significantly weakened.
Although they were able to fend off Chelsea’s attacks when they had the man advantage, Chelsea still failed to mount any serious threats to Altay Bayındır’s goal when Casemiro was shown a second yellow for a silly challenge.
United’s defence can come away from this game with their heads held high, limiting Chelsea to just one shot on target in the game, with that solitary shot being what turned out to be the London side’s consolation goal that came in the 80th minute.
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