sport news Man United swing between shambolic and sensational on the same night, writes ... trends now
In this strangest of seasons for Manchester United, Erik ten Hag’s side have swung between shambolic and sensational, and everything else in between. Rarely, though, have they managed it all on the same night.
Here at Stamford Bridge, we were treated to the full repertoire. Five days after dropping valuable points in the race for Champions League qualification down the road at Brentford, United were at it again as they conceded goals deep into injury-time by Cole Palmer who celebrated a sensational hat-trick.
Two down to Chelsea and seemingly out, they clawed their way back into the game and then looked to have snatched victory through Alejandro Garnacho’s second goal of the night. But in the 99th minute, Cole Palmer converted a second penalty of the night to earn a draw and then fired on off Scott McToninay in the 102nd minute.
Although there was proof once again that these players are still ready to fight for Ten Hag, this was a crushing blow to their top-four hopes. United’s new co-owner Jim Ratcliffe was here to witness the drama at Stamford Bridge, and it would be fascinating to know what he made of it all.
United still have the prospect of an FA Cup final next month where they could feasibly meet Chelsea again. One the basis of this encounter, it could be a cracking final.
Cole Palmer kept his composure to score twice after 90 minutes and seal a stunning turnaround, the first of which came from 12 yards
Palmer's late double sparked pandemonium on the Chelsea bench, with 82 seconds between his stoppage time winners
The summer signing celebrated a stunning hat-trick to notch his 15th goal of the season at the death
Ten Hag made the bold decision to leave Marcus Rashford on the bench and hand Antony his first Premier League start of the year, although not everyone will have bought into his explanation that he was rotating to keep players fit for Liverpool on Sunday.
At least, Raphael Varane and Harry Maguire proved their fitness in time to start in central defence after Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof became United’s latest casualties.
‘It would have been an headache if they hadn’t been fit, so it's a relief,’ added Ten Hag who even had the luxury of having Jonny Evans back on the bench.
Yet any sense of security dissipated within 18 minutes as Chelsea scored twice to seize control of the game.
We were less than four minutes in when Kobbie Mainoo was guilty of a rare error, misplacing a pass to Alejandro Garnacho on the United left. Enzo Fernandez picked up the loose ball and curled it into the path of Malo Gusto whose low cross took a deflection off Varane.
Not for the first time this season, United were punished for leaving a man unmarked on the edge of the box as Conor Gallagher swept a first-time shot under the body of Andre Onana.
It soon got even worse
