Chelsea vs Man United: Red Devils fall to 1973 low as Lisandro Martinez sees red

Manchester United failed to win any of their first seven away games in all competitions for the first time since the 1973/74 season after losing 2-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Argentine defender Lisandro Martinez suffered the ignominy of a red card after causing the penalty that saw Chelsea go 2-0 up as goals from Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer gave the Blues a valuable win.

Both teams created opportunities in an entertaining first half, with Estevao and Andrey Santos going close for Chelsea. The Brazilian winger briefly thought he had opened the scoring after converting a rebound from Pedro Neto’s shot, but his effort was ruled out for offside.

United also had chances, with Bruno Fernandes firing over after a promising counterattack involving Bryan Mbeumo. Amad Diallo caused problems for Wesley Fofana and forced Mike Penders into two saves, while Matheus Cunha also had a goal disallowed for offside. Chelsea came closest when Fofana’s header deflected off Moises Caicedo and struck the post.

The deadlock was broken shortly after half-time when Morgan Rogers collected possession following Romeo Lavia’s intervention, drove towards the United defence and delicately chipped Senne Lammens.

United’s hopes of recovering suffered another setback when Lisandro Martinez conceded a penalty for a foul on Fofana and received a second yellow card. Cole Palmer converted despite Lammens getting a hand to his effort.

Chelsea controlled the closing stages, securing their third league victory in seven matches. United, meanwhile, remained in a difficult position, with Mbeumo hitting the crossbar late on and Carrick’s future uncertain.