Manchester United defeat Chelsea to relieve pressure on Amorim

Manchester United reduced the strain on their struggling manager Ruben Amorim with a disorderly 2-1 victory over Chelsea, as both sides ended the game with 10 players at Old Trafford.

Amorim, battling to keep his job following a dismal beginning to the campaign, gained a vital lift when Chelsea's keeper Robert Sanchez received a red card only five minutes into the Saturday encounter.

Bruno Fernandes swiftly gave United the lead with his 100th goal for the team across all tournaments in his 200th Premier League outing.

Casemiro extended United's advantage before the Brazilian midfielder earned a second yellow in added time of the first half, resulting in his dismissal.

Trevoh Chalobah's last-minute strike for Chelsea created a nail-biting conclusion, yet United clung on for their second success in six fixtures across all competitions this season.

Starting the day just outside the drop zone, Amorim's squad rose to ninth position, offering the Portuguese manager some temporary respite.

Amorim, who has secured only nine victories in his 32 Premier League games, must not get complacent too soon.

After overseeing United's worst league position since 1973-74 and a feeble Europa League final defeat to Tottenham in the previous season, Amorim invested heavily during the summer to revamp his stagnant squad.

However, United endured a humiliating League Cup knockout by fourth-division Grimsby in August, and a 3-0 defeat at Manchester City last weekend highlighted the significant gap to their competitors.

The former Sporting Lisbon coach Amorim, who took over from the dismissed Erik ten Hag in November, maintains that he still has the support of co-owner Jim Ratcliffe following a discussion with the British tycoon at the training facility on Thursday.

Ratcliffe occupied the directors' box at the rain-soaked Old Trafford to assess whether his endorsement of Amorim proved justified.

Amorim's respite

Facing mounting criticism, Amorim persisted with his heavily scrutinised 3-4-3 setup after quipping earlier in the week that not even the Pope could force him to alter his strategy.

This choice yielded results as United launched aggressively, with left wing-back Patrick Dorgu delivering a cross for Bryan Mbeumo, whose effort was blocked by Sanchez.

Shortly after, the unpredictable Sanchez hastily dashed from his box to intercept before Mbeumo could connect with Benjamin Sesko's pass, but he instead felled the United attacker with a wild tackle.

It constituted an obvious red for halting a clear goal chance, and Chelsea voiced no objections to their fastest ever Premier League sending-off.

Filip Jorgensen came on for Sanchez in net as Maresca withdrew wingers Estevao Willian and Pedro Neto in a bid to shore up defence, a decision that swiftly proved costly.

United pressed hard, and Mbeumo narrowly missed volleying over after Fernandes's free-kick struck the Chelsea barrier.

Amorim's team struck first in the 14th minute when Fernandes, perfectly timed onside by Chalobah, darted in to convert Dorgu's header with a sharp effort from close range.

Chelsea's woes deepened when England striker Cole Palmer had to depart due to what seemed like a recurring groin problem, marking an astonishing three changes in just 21 minutes for the visitors.

On this occasion, fortune favoured Amorim entirely, and Chelsea unravelled to hand United a second goal in the 37th minute.

Jorgensen remained stationary as Reece James's botched clearance was nodded forward by Harry Maguire to Casemiro, who headed in from near the line for his first top-flight strike in 11 months.

Casemiro, cautioned earlier for a challenge on Enzo Fernandez, was shown red right before the interval after carelessly hauling back Andrey Santos.

United found it hard to establish flow after the break, and Chalobah pulled one back in the 80th minute by rising unmarked to power James's delivery past Altay Bayindir from 12 yards.

Despite the effort, it came too late to prevent Chelsea from tasting their initial league loss this term, allowing Amorim to exhale in relief.