The United Devils

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Carabao Cup  4th Round
30 October 2019
Stamford Bridge
Full Time Result Chelsea 1 (Batshuayi)  Man Utd 2 (Rashford 24min and 73min)

Manchester United have moved themselves into the quarterfinals of the Carabao Cup with a hard fought victory away at Stamford Bridge against an inform Chelsea side ending Chelsea's run of seven victories in all competitions. United showed encouraging signs and this resolute 2-1 victory away to Chelsea brought another win to make three in a row, another two goals for the suddenly revitalised Marcus Rashford. The game itself was pretty end to end and both teams showed desire and intent to win the tie. The way both teams were set up was a sign of things to come with Chelsea trying to keep possession whilst Man Utd were looking for the opportunities to catch their opponents on the counter attack. Solskjaer had made four changes to the side who defeated Norwich on Sunday, bringing in Brandon Williams for his first domestic start, Sergio Romero came in for David De Gea. Jesse Lingard was given his opportunity to start upfront with James and Rashford whilst Martial was on the bench. Solskjaer has given his team the directive to be more direct and ruthless with the opportunities that come their way and as early as the 13th minute a screamer from McTominay, whose attempt narrowly missed the target from a James corner showed the visitors intentions. Not long afterwards, James was fouled by Alonso with a tackle from behind. Referee had no doubt in awarding the penalty. Rashford, who had missed a penalty on Sunday against Norwich, stepped up to take the spot kick. Rashford held his nerve and sent Willy Caballero the wrong way. Man Utd continued to press Chelsea for the rest of the first half and were able to stifle any goal threat from the hosts.

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In the second half, Chelsea managed to gain momentum and bounced back after the break, with Batshuayi finally getting the better of Harry Maguire after toiling against the England international in the opening 45. A missed header from United’s record signing gave him the room to run into, but the Belgian did it all himself from there, fending off both Maguire and Marcos Rojo before lashing home a superb effort from the edge of the box. Chelsea were back in the game and  Man Utd needed to reorganise their shape with substitutes Martial and Pereira coming on midway through the second half. The defining moment  of the game came when Fred was fouled in an attacking position, giving Rashford the opportunity to line up a free kick within shooting range. Rashford produced possibly the finest goal of his career directing the free kick with power accuracy and swerve that left Caballero helpless. Man Utd managed to hang onto the lead and ended Chelsea's winning streak.


Player Ratings


Sergio Romero  6/10  was solid in the goals made a few vital saves in the second half


Aaron Wan-Bissaka 6/10  Put in a steady performance. Looks like he is recovering from injury still needs more game time.


Harry Maguire  (c) 5/10  Could have done better for the Chelsea equaliser


Victor Lindelöf  6/10  Had a steady game dealt with the Chelsea threat for the most part.


Marcos Rojo 6.5/10  Brought some aggression to the defence. Made some good tackles.


Brandon Williams 6/10  The academy graduate had a top first 45, though was under significant pressure in the second half.


Scott McTominay 7/10  His passing was good as was his reading of the game.


Fred 6/10  Solid performance kept United moving in the right direction due to his forward-thinking nature.


Jesse Lingard  6/10  His movement gave Chelsea all sorts of problems.


Daniel James 8/10  Won the spot-kick due to his immense pace. Tried to get in behind the Chelsea backline wherever possible.


Marcus Rashford 9/10  Tucked away his penalty coolly and backed that up with a sublime free-kick. Was a constant threat throughout. Man of the Match.


Substitutes
Anthony Martial: 6/10
Andreas Pereira: 6/10
Ashley Young: 5/10