September 20th 2025.
Enzo Maresca's Chelsea team faced their first defeat of the season in the Premier League when they played against Manchester United at Old Trafford. The decision made by Maresca to substitute Pedro Neto was described as 'strange' and 'negative' by Wayne Rooney and Danny Murphy. Chelsea's goalkeeper, Robert Sanchez, was sent off after just five minutes for a foul on Bryan Mbeumo, leaving the team with 10 men.
Maresca quickly made changes to his team, bringing on goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen and Tosin Adarabioyo in place of Estevao and Neto, respectively. However, he was forced to make another change when Cole Palmer had to be taken off due to a groin injury. Despite being reduced to 10 men, Manchester United managed to take the lead in the first half through goals from Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro, who was later sent off for a second yellow card.
For fans of Manchester United, they can get personalized updates on their favorite team every day by signing up for Metro's Football Newsletter. The newsletter can be tailored to include news about Manchester United by selecting the team in the link provided. In the second half, Chelsea showed signs of improvement and managed to score a goal through Trevoh Chalobah in the 80th minute. However, they were unable to find an equalizer, resulting in a 2-1 defeat.
During the match, Murphy commented on BBC's Match of the Day, saying, "I think bringing an extra defender on is understandable and taking off an attacker, but a few minutes later Palmer is off after they're 1-0 down." He also added that the substitution of Neto and Palmer was a "negative move" and that they should have kept Neto on for his pace, especially when they were level in numbers with Manchester United.
Rooney also shared his thoughts on the game, stating that Chelsea lacked urgency even after United had a player sent off. He said, "They had all the imagination on the pitch and I felt that is what was missing for Chelsea." He also mentioned that Neto or Palmer could have brought some creativity to the team, which was lacking throughout the match.
Rooney's observation was evident as Chelsea seemed to lack urgency and creativity in their attacks. Despite having more possession in the second half, they struggled to create any real goal-scoring opportunities. Rooney also pointed out that the team only managed to score from crosses, and there were very few of them throughout the game. He concluded by saying that if he were a Chelsea fan, he would have wanted to see more urgency from the team to try and get something from the game.
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