Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah has explained what he noticed from Manchester United during the 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford.
Manchester United started on the front foot in this clash, playing with confidence despite a week of criticism over lacklustre performances.
Ruben Amorim’s side showed real intent from the outset, and Chelsea were quickly reduced to ten men when goalkeeper Robert Sánchez was sent off in the fifth minute for bringing down Bryan Mbeumo outside the box.
United wasted little time capitalising, as Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring with a well-timed run before Casemiro added a second after a scrappy passage of play in the area.
But just before the break, Casemiro saw red for a second bookable offence, swinging the momentum back toward Chelsea.
The second half, with both teams down to ten players, offered few chances until Trevoh Chalobah pulled one back with a header in the 80th minute. Even so, Amorim’s men held their nerve and saw out the match to claim all three points.
Chalobah explains what he noticed from United
United were deserved winners against the Blues even though they didn’t create much after they were also reduced to 10 men.
Chelsea goalscorer Chalobah explained after the game that it was immediately clear that United were up for the game and he also slammed his own team’s performance, claiming that they cannot say they are kids anymore.
“We have to look at ourselves as players. It wasn’t good enough for ourselves, for the club. The first 15 minutes is the worst we’ve played this season. We have to reflect on that as a team and learn from this,” Chalobah told Sky Sports.
“With the red card that happens, you go 2-0 down in the game, any team you play against, it’s always difficult coming back. We struggled in the first half.
“It’s always difficult going down to 10 men and you can see that United were up for it. They put us under pressure. It wasn’t good enough at our end. We couldn’t get going in the first half.
“Things like this happen in the season. We can’t say we’re kids anymore, we’ve played in the Premier League long enough now. We have just got to learn from this and move forward.”
United have opportunity to build momentum
United’s intensity off the mark was too much for Chelsea in the opening exchanges and it would have been interesting to see how the game played out if no one was sent off.
It felt more like the intensity we saw during pre-season games which provided fans with hope that the season could be a good one.
Read More: Player Ratings: Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea (Premier League)
Now, the Reds have an opportunity to build some momentum with upcoming games against Brentford and Sunderland before the international break.
If the Reds can manage to win three consecutive games, there will certainly be more belief and confidence ahead of a clash with Liverpool after the next international break.
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