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NOT FOR THE FIRST TIME Roy Keane was unimpressed.
‘Way off’, was how he summed up this Manchester United.
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Ahead from Bruno Fernandeds penalty on 70 minutes it took just four more before Chelsea were level through Moises Caicedo.
The fact honours were even was probably about right.
Where United are at the minute it seemed like a decent result for interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy who saw no lack of effort from his players.
‘Tried hard but must do better’, the report card will say, which you might say is a step up from Erik ten Hag’s final games.
While there were no goals in the first period you couldn’t take your eyes off the pitch.
That final bit of quality was lacking but the intensity from both sides certainly was not.
Van Nistelrooy’s first Premier League game in charge certainly seemed to bring more energy out of the players than recent ones under the departed Dutchman.
Captain Fernandes in particular looked up for it constantly demanding the ball.
It would be Chelsea who had the early chances, however.
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When Caicedo nicked the ball off Manuel Ugarte he fed Cole Palmer whose shot was blocked by the sliding Matthijs de Ligt.
From the resulting corner, Noni Madueke’s near post header hit the post.
Then when United tried to play it out from the back, which always sets nerves jangling at Old Trafford, Nicolas Jackson got in ahead of Casemiro but sent the ball over the top.
Marcus Rashford started to get hold of the ball and go on his trademark runs down the flank.
If incoming boss Ruben Amorim can rediscover Rashforfd’s very best form there is still some player there.
When he got to the byline on 21 minutes his cross was blocked by the outstretched leg of goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and Fernandes put the follow-up wide.
GettyThere was a slick United move when Rasmus Hojlund went charging down the wing and squared the ball across the top of the box.
Rashford stepped over it to give Alejandro Garnacho the chance but he fired the ball too near to the goalkeeper and it was easily saved.
When Ugarte was fouled on the edge of the box referee Robert Jones was a bit too quick with his whistle as the ball broke to Hojlund.
It was as well Sanchez saved his effort for Jones sake as there would have been no little controversy had it gone in for him not allowing play to continue.
Ruben Amorim is ‘Mourinho 2.0’ who turned Sporting from ‘walking dead’ into Portuguese champs… he can revive Man Utd
WHEN Ruben Amorim took charge of Sporting Lisbon in March 2020, one club official compared their situation to the “walking dead”, writes Jordan Davies.
Optimism and hope was at an all-time low.
But the Amorim-effect was almost instantaneous, guiding the Portuguese sleeping giants to their first league title for 19 years in 2020/21, losing just once and only conceding 20 goals.
Since then, Sporting have lifted another league title in 2023/24 – as well as two League Cups – and currently sit top with nine wins from nine this term.
He may be young, but Amorim already has an eye for rebuilding and revitalising fallen super powers with his infectious charisma and intense tactical philosophy that hardly ever wavers.
The “walking dead” at Manchester United must be praying for a similar sort of revival.
And they may just get it from one of the most talented young coaches on the continent – a man accustomed to breathing new life back into crumbling institutions such as Old Trafford.
Amorim has spent the last decade dreaming of one day gracing England’s Premier League, such was his admiration for an ex-United boss in Jose Mourinho growing up.
Often nicknamed ‘Mourinho 2.0’, Amorim spent a week with his coaching idol in an internship capacity at United’s Carrington training base in 2018, going on to cite him as his “reference point”.
United should not be expecting a mini-Mourinho, as Amorim said himself: “Mourinho is one of a kind. There won’t be another Mourinho. Mourinho is unique.”
And yet, you cannot help but compare the two.
For all the mismanagement in the Old Trafford hot seats over the years, this would be a real get – finally a slap in the face United’s Prem rivals have no answer for.
Then in the final seconds of the first half, United nearly snatched the lead.
It was a great crossfield ball from Fernandes to find Rashford on the far side of the box who met it sweetly on the volley rattling the angle of the goal.
After the break, it was the Chelsea fans who had celebration cries cut short when they thought they had the lead.
Palmer, who looked the most comfortable player on the ball, spread it out wide to Pedro Neto and his cross-shot went inches wide of the far post.
It was end to end as United responded.
Rashford received a corner on the edge of the box but shot straight at the keeper.
When Diogo Dalot played a ball down the flank Fernandes cut it back for Garnacho who scuffed his shot.
Then came the penalty.
It was Casemiro who spotted Hojlund’s run and played an inch perfect pass over the top of Wesley Fofana onto his toe.
Hojlund touched he ball past Sanchez and was tripped by the Chelsea goalkeeper’s outstretched arm.
The VAR backed up the referee’s decision and Fernandes stepped up to send Sanchez the wrong way.
Old Trafford roared and their captain raced to the corner flag, sliding on his knees and getting back to his feet as he was engulfed by his teammates.
The home fans buoyant but that would last just four minutes before Chelsea equalised.
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PAPalmer’s corner was headed only to the edge of the box by Casemiro where Caicedo was waiting to return a low volley into the bottom corner.
The visitors could have been ahead two minutes when a slip by De Ligt allowed Jackson to lay the ball back to substitute Enzo Fernandez but with the goal at his mercy he fired over.
United’s Fernandes wild volley over the bar into the The Stretford End saw the best chance wasted before the end.
There would be a late melee when Martinez scraped his studs down Palmer’s leg although it brought only a booking.
No boos or cheers from the United faithful at the end. It was just a bit, oh well.
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