Scott McTominay scored twice as Manchester United beat Chelsea 2-1 at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Wednesday evening.
The Red Devils responded perfectly to the Newcastle United defeat last weekend, shrugging off a rare penalty miss from Bruno Fernandes in the first half. Scott McTominay opened the scoring in the 19th minute with a fine left-footed drive past Robert Sanchez. But the Scottish midfielder should have had a second when he headed straight at Sanchez before also fluffing the follow-up.
Erik ten Hag’s side’s glut of missed chances came back to haunt them right before the break when Cole Palmer finished an impressive team move to restore parity. McTominay stepped up again for Man United, planting a bullet header at the far post on 69 minutes after being teed up by Alejandro Garnacho. He could have bagged a hat-trick but poor finishing let him down.
In response, substitute Armando Broja hit the crossbar from close range as Chelsea failed to build on their victory over Brighton. With Man United deservedly taking all three points, let us take a look at the talking points of the game.
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Ten Hag sends message by dropping Marcus Rashford
Amid the heavy media scrutiny after the loss to Newcastle, Erik ten Hag insisted he wasn’t placing the blame on any individuals, but the decision to drop Marcus Rashford felt like a point made.
Rashford could have few complaints after his dismal show in Man United’s defeat to Newcastle and was rightly dropped at the expense of Antony, who put in one of his best performances in a Red shirt against Chelsea. Off the left, Alejandro Garnacho tormented Marc Cucurella and the consistent work ethic was admirable as he was bombing up and down the flank and trying to make things happen.
It is something that Rashford will want to emulate after his underwhelming performances since the start of the campaign. Ten Hag has faced criticism for singling players out, but his recent actions tell he is in no mood to change. The Dutch manager’s latest changes were made with the idea of getting an instant reaction from his boys—and he got exactly that.
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Scott McTominay the hero again!
Man United started on the front foot against Chelsea as Ten Hag would have wanted, but Bruno Fernandes’ penalty miss in the ninth minute turned the mood grim inside Old Trafford. However, Scott McTominay quickly changed the mood back with a left-footed drive in the 19th minute.
While Chelsea levelled through Cole Palmer at the stroke of half time and pulled some momentum in their direction, Ten Hag’s men came back after the break stronger and started controlling the game again. It was McTominay again who came up with the goods for the hosts, arriving at the back post and nodding in Garnacho’s cross in the 69th minute to help the Red Devils secure all three points.
The Scotland international’s rebirth as a goalscorer continues, and with five goals in nine league starts, he is astonishingly United’s top scorer in the Premier League this season.
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Cole Palmer shines
There were some question marks when Cole Palmer left Manchester City to join Chelsea in the summer, but his decision is being vindicated. And the performance against Man United was another indicator that the Englishman is now becoming the main man for the Blues.
While the likes of Nicolas Jackson and Mykhaylo Mudryk floundered chances in front of goal, Palmer looked like he had all the time while scoring the equaliser. Receiving the ball from Mudryk in the half-space, the youngster dribbled across Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire before calmly slotting past the scrambling Andre Onana.
Palmer had already scored against his former club Man City in the extraordinary 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge last month and now he has got one against his boyhood club.