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78 min: A lot of high-speed, sodden scrappiness.
76 min: The rain has finally stopped.
75 min: The resulting free kick finds Shaw down the left. Shaw curls long for Diallo, who attempts a Mark Hughes bicycle kick. Full marks for ambition if nothing else.
74 min: Caicedo nicks Fernandes’s ankle. Then he has a short conversation with Mount. Santos and Yoro both come across to get involved as well, before everything cools down as quickly as it flared up.
72 min: George tries to close down Bayindir mid-clearance, and is kicked and booked for his trouble.
71 min: Fernandes, out on the left, heads a long ball down into the path of the in-flight Mount … but the United midfielder is stopped in his tracks by a perfectly timed sliding tackle from Chalobah … who is on a booking, so that timing was key.
69 min: United make a double change, replacing Mbeumo and Maguire with Yoro and Mount.
67 min: That slew of changes has done for whatever momentum Chelsea was building up. The game goes scrappy and bitty, which will suit United just fine.
65 min: United had considered replacing Mbeumo with Cunha … but aborted the substitution seconds before Mbeumo stepped off the pitch, and just before the aforementioned corner. Now Amorim changes his mind again, sending Cunha on, but taking off Mazraoui instead.
64 min: Garnacho won’t play on his return to Old Trafford today. That’s because Chelsea make their last two changes, Gusto and George on for Cucurella and Fofana.
63 min: De Ligt’s clearance went out for a corner. James curls it towards the near post. Tosin eyebrows on for Fofana, who can’t miss with his header from a couple of yards … but Fofana was clearly offside and the flag goes up correctly.
62 min: Fernandez slips James into the United box down the inside-right channel. James tries to find Caicedo with a cut-back, but De Ligt gets in ahead of the in-rushing midfielder to hook clear. Better from Chelsea.
60 min: Chelsea hog the ball, but do very little with it. One goal would seriously change the mood, but they don’t look like scoring it at the moment. Meanwhile Kári Tulinius observes that “matches in torrential downpours are always charming because it makes professional footballers, who otherwise can seem nearly superhuman, look like kids playing football on a muddy field in the park.”
58 min: Pedro is sent skittering into acres of space down the left. He’s got Fernandez free in the middle, but holds onto the ball for too long, allowing Mazraoui to block the route into the centre. Big chance for Chelsea wasted.
57 min: Dorgu and Fernandes take turns to curl crosses into the Chelsea box from the left. Chalobah clears the first; Fernandes overhits the second, giving Mbeumo no chance at the far stick. Goal kick. But that’s better from United.
56 min: Sky flash up a stat. Chelsea have enjoyed 80 percent of possession since the restart.
54 min: Maguire sticks out an arm to fend off Santos, who cops one flush in his startled face. Just a free kick. Maguire sends some invective in the direction of the referee anyway. Everyone pushing their luck in different ways right now.
52 min: I mean, 10 versus 10 on one of the bigger pitches in the country, and one that’s collecting water and slippery as it gets, ball and players rolling around in equally erratic fashion.
50 min: Chalobah clanks into Diallo and becomes the latest Chelsea player to go into the referee’s notebook. Chelsea now have three of their side on a yellow. A fair chance this isn’t going to end 10 versus 10.
49 min: Fernandez is booked for planting his studs on Ugarte’s ankle, as the pair tussle. You’ve seen red cards given for less.
47 min: … well, probably not. But there are big puddles forming in the Old Trafford technical areas. Hmm.
46 min: The rain is still hammering down, and the pitch is taking a bit of a battering. Earlier today, the Championship game between Blackburn and Ipswich was abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch. It couldn’t happen here, could it?
Chelsea get the second half underway. In the wake of Casemiro’s dismissal, United have sacrificed Sesko for Ugarte.
In the interests of postbag-based balance … “I’m going to go against the crowd and say that, barring relegation, United should stick with Amorim,” writes David Wall. “When they come under pressure, the manager inevitably resorts to short-term solutions, rather than forcing through the changes that everyone agreed were needed. We saw this with Erik ten Hag after just a couple of matches: seeing that they weren’t able to play in a way he was hired to make them play, he reverted to trying to plug leaks throughout his tenure rather than actually trying to fix it properly. Amorim is just saying that he’s not going to go the same way. Of course people will say, ‘it’s Manchester United, you can’t accept a period where they’re doing really badly’, but that’s part of the problem. They need a bit of humility to accept that they have to go through that process just like everyone else. Alternatively they could just hope that the next manager will pull rabbits from hats and magic the club into being on a par with the other top clubs.”
Our postbag is now officially teeming over. There’s still not much love for Ruben Amorim within, mind. Or Enzo Maresca, come to that.
“Why was Casemiro still on the pitch after getting that first, needless yellow card? The only thing that was going to get Chelsea back in the game is United having a man sent off. And, given his history, Casemiro was certainly more than capable of getting himself a second yellow. Amorim really needs to be asked why he left Casemiro on. Even when things are going their way, they find a way to screw it up” – Kevin Cullen, long suffering Man U supporter in Vermont and not happy
“For all his talk about systems, Amorim’s United are ahead today mainly because of a long ball launched in the fourth minute by Bayindir, and a deep cross nodded down. Never mind the Pope, the infallibility of Route One football when you’re desperate is between Amorim’s conscience and his god” – Justin Kavanagh
“Not sure why Maresca didn’t bide his time before hooking all his match winners. Against Chelsea’s rivals at the top it may make sense but against this brittle Man Utd team wouldn’t attack be the best form of defence?” – Iain Chambers
“What Chelsea need here is an experienced head, to guide them through the storm. Someone like Sterling. Or possibly Maresca’s dad” – Tim Woods
“So the Pope can’t get Amorim to change his formation, but Casemiro can” – Andrew Goudie
HALF TIME: Manchester United 2-0 Chelsea
United’s one-man advantage is gone … but they’re still two goals up. Not that you’d know it from the look on Ruben Amorim’s face, as he stomps off in great irritation. You can hardly blame him. Considering the circumstances, Casemiro’s foolishness was off the scale.
45 min +9: The Old Trafford faithful are suddenly rather subdued. This game looked completely in the bag. But now the certainty is gone.
45 min +7: James fizzes a cross through the United six-yard box from the right. Pedro doesn’t anticipate it, and the ball sails away from danger. Chelsea now have their tails up, all hope having previously been lost. Well, Casemiro’s replenished their stocks of that.
45 min +6: Casemiro walks off shaking his head, presumably at his own idiocy. Then after the restart, Cucurella finds himself with the ball at his feet, just inside the United box, but blazes high and wide from a not-particularly-tight angle.
RED CARD: Casemiro (Manchester United)
45 min +5: Here’s that stupid sending off, then. Casemiro climbs on the back of Santos, pulling him back, and that’s a second yellow. It’s ten versus ten, and all of a sudden Chelsea have a little bit of hope.
45 min +3: Fernandes takes up possession in a pocket of space in front of the Chelsea box. He tries to slip Diallo into the box with a slide-rule pass down the middle, but gets it all wrong. Blocked and cleared.
45 min +1: Fernandes slaps a dismal free kick into the Chelsea box that fails to beat the first man. There will be nine additional first-half minutes.
45 min: Cucurella launches himself into a daft challenge on Mazraoui, who was going nowhere down the right. It’s a booking all day long, and now a free kick in a dangerous position.
43 min: Sesko one-twos with Fernandes down the inside-right channel, but takes a heavy touch and the opportunity to shoot is gone.
42 min: James makes a nuisance of himself down the right but Shaw outmuscles him to shepherd the ball out for a goal kick. Meanwhile Cole Palmer’s back on the Chelsea bench, with an ice pack on his groin that may explain his withdrawal.
40 min: A third goal is more likely than a United red card, though. Diallo advances down the left and looks for Mbeumo in the middle. Jorgensen does just enough to flap clear.
39 min: During the celebrations, Shaw brushes past Fernandez, who isn’t happy about it at all. Tempers flare. The referee eventually calms everything down. The only thing that can possibly save Chelsea now is if a United player gets stupidly sent off.
GOAL! Manchester United 2-0 Chelsea (Casemiro 37)
Sesko busies his way down the right and earns a corner off Fofana. Mbeumo plays it back down the line for Mazraoui, who swings into the mixer. Dorgu wins a header. James slices horribly into the air. Shaw heads the dropping ball across the face of goal, left to right, and Casemiro nods down and home. United double their lead!
35 min: Pedro dribbles into the United box down the inside-left channel. He goes over Mazraoui’s leg, and claims a penalty. While VAR takes a look, United counter, Diallo crossing from the left for Mazraoui, who slices horribly wide. But he was offside anyway. At least he didn’t concede a penalty, though, which is the conclusion the VAR eventually comes to.
33 min: Mbeumo slips Diallo into the box down the right. Diallotries to dribble his away round Tosin along the byline, but walks the ball out of play. He still stands it up for Fernandes, who nods home at the far stick, but the goal obviously won’t stand.
31 min: United continue to press forward with their extra man; Chelsea are only just holding on. Mbeumo and De Ligt with dangerous crosses from the right. “SBJR is probably worrying about having to pay a win bonus,” suggests Richard Hirst.
29 min: … and here he is, deliberately getting in the way of Mbeumo down the right. He’s fortunate not to go into the book. The resulting free kick is eventually plucked from the sky by Jorgensen, who tries to set Chelsea off on the counter. Shaw cynically wraps an arm around Fernandez, and now it’s a United player who gets away with a sly foul. No booking.
27 min: Cucurella is fine to continue.
25 min: Mazraoui barges clumsily into the back of Cucurella, who takes the opportunity to stay down and allow Chelsea some brief respite. While he gets some treatment, the camera pans to Sir Big Jim Ratcliffe, who despite United’s brisk start this evening, is sitting in the stand with a face on.
23 min: Cucurella’s sheer presence wins Chelsea a corner down the left, but when the set piece is played back to Caicedo, the resulting shot is scuffed and blocked. Safe to say this isn’t going to plan for Chelsea, who had been hoping to go second tonight.
21 min: Also not happy: former Manchester City player and boyhood Manchester United fan Cole Palmer, who having taken just one touch so far, is replaced by Santos, as Chelsea look to shore things up and perhaps even turn the tide. Palmer shakes his head in irritation, before trudging off down the tunnel in (a) a big coat, and (b) high dudgeon.
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