Manchester United crisis deepens with Chelsea defeat and Martínez red card

Get ready for another week of agonising over the sorry state of Manchester United. The legends of old will rage, clips of a fuming Gary Neville will fly around social media, the airwaves will reverberate with complaints from angry supporters and by the time United play again there is every chance a new manager will be in the dugout.

There were echoes of Erik ten Hag’s final game in charge as the walls closed in on Michael Carrick at Stamford Bridge. United missed a series of golden chances when the scores were level, just as they did when Ten Hag lost to West Ham a day before his sacking two years ago, and Chelsea made the most of the reprieve after initially delivering a performance so bad it had you worrying for the nascent Xabi Alonso project.

Chelsea could not have been worse during the first half. It helped that their opponents were in a giving mood. United had opportunities to make their decision to give Carrick a stay of execution look like a wise move rather than the consequence of executive level confusion, but their finishing was awful and their defending even worse. They watched as Morgan Rogers breezed through to make it 1-0 early in the second half and their seventh defeat in 13 games was sealed when Lisandro Martínez earned a red card for giving away the penalty that allowed Cole Palmer to push Chelsea into fourth place.

It symbolised United’s decline under the Glazer family and Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Martínez has had a lot to say recently, but the Argentinian should have been sold long ago. That he is yet to go sums up United’s shoddy recruitment. They are carrying so much deadwood and it is hard to see their problems being fixed by a change of manager. Carrick is merely one of many issues. He will probably have gone by the time United face Roma on Tuesday and whoever takes over will inherit a team sleepwalking into a relegation battle.

This is not a happy ship. The ending was similar to last week’s defeat to Bournemouth. Carrick was applauded when he walked over at full-time. They sang his name and booed when the United players made a sheepish trudge to the away end at full time.

The spotlight was also on Alonso, defeats to Tottenham in the league and Liverpool in the Carabao Cup sparking criticism over team selections, and he lifted his side by handing Estêvão Willian his first start in the league this season.

Overlooked at Anfield, Estêvão was dangerous on the right flank after Alonso adjusted without the injured João Pedro up front. Pedro Neto rather than Danny Welbeck led the line in a 4-2-3-1 system but it was United who threatened first. Diogo Dalot combined with Mateus Cunha on the left and Andrey Santos, who left Chelsea for United last summer, swept a shot just wide from 20 yards.

Both sides brought vulnerabilities to the table. Chelsea had a long list of absentees – illness ruled Jordan Henderson out in midfield – and their defence wobbled without Maxence Lacroix. United, though not exactly secure whenever Chelsea punched through on the counterattack, felt optimistic at first.

The visitors had an escape when Senne Lammens spilled a Neto shot and an offside Estêvão tapped home but Carrick was the happier manager during the first half. Fernandes, back after clear the air talks with Carrick, shimmered in a floating role from the left. Bryan Mbeumo and Cunha were lively, although the worry for United was making their dominance count.

Fernandes was wasteful at the end of a flowing counterattack, firing over from Mbeumo’s pass. Amad Diallo, dangerous against Marco Palestra, cut inside to fire two efforts on target and Chelsea, enjoying neither possession nor control against Santos and Carlos Baleba, were forced into emergency mode.

Levi Colwill intervened when Cunha broke through and Wesley Fofana took flak from the home fans after a couple of trademark brain farts. Mbeumo and Diallo missed after mistakes by the Frenchman, though it is worth stressing that a dismal half from Chelsea was a team effort. They were lucky when Cunha had what would have been the opening goal disallowed by the video assistant referee (VAR) for offside.

The away end ran through the anti-board chants – urging the Glazers to sell up and questioning Jason Wilcox’s credentials as technical director – and United feared being punished for their profligacy. There were a couple of flashes from Chelsea; Moisés Caicedo diverted a Fofana header against the woodwork and Neto shot wide after a stumble from Harry Maguire.

Chelsea were more assertive at the start of the second half and it was easy to predict United’s unravelling. They were punished when Mbeumo turned into trouble in midfield. Caicedo blocked his path, Roméo Lavia nicked the ball past Baleba and Rogers took over. Facing no resistance, the £117m man’s saunter through the middle placed United’s failure to strengthen in defence into sharp focus.

It was a bit like a goal you see at the end of a casual five-a-side between a group of dads playing for the first time since 2019. Maguire barely lifted a leg, Martínez gawped and Rogers dinked over Lammens for 1-0.

The challenge for United was to dig deep, to stand tall. Good luck with that. Lavia was running the midfield for Chelsea now.

There was a sense of the players in red giving up when Martínez elbowed Fofana at a corner. The Argentinian was already on a booking and he was off when Peter Bankes reviewed the incident, leaving Palmer to put United’s 10 men to bed by making it 2-0 from the spot.