Manchester United were beaten 3-1 by Chelsea in the semi-final of the Emirates FA Cup at Wembley on Sunday. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will not be happy with this defeat, his first in 20 matches, which is a good sign of things to come. Frank Lampard finally got his win against United, fourth time lucky. United will have to get to the bottom of this poor performance with two big mistakes for David De Gea, which is something that needs solving sooner rather than later.
It was a poor start to this FA Cup semi-final for United, who were under the cosh by Chelsea from the very start of the match. Solskjaer will be worrying about his defence after Harry Maguire and Eric Bailly collided with the former suffering a cut and having his head strapped and Bailly coming off injured, on a stretcher after he left the pitch. To add more, Olivier Giroud opened up the scoring in the 11th minute go stoppage time at the end of the first half. United will need to dig deep to find something.
Chelsea doubled their lead in the first minute of the second half with Mason Mount putting a cracking strike towards David De Gea only for him to make a touch of the ball, sending it in off the post rather than out for a corner. This has been a disastrous performance for United and the deeper they dig, the further they will have to come back into the game. Solskjaer will not be happy with what he has seen here. All the work since the restart has been undone in 46 minutes of football.
Solskjaer made a double change with Paul Pogba replacing Fred in the 55th minute and Mason Greenwood replacing Daniel James in the 56th minute with United throwing all they can to get back into the game. In the minutes before, Marcus Rashford had a good chance but his diagonal shot rolled past the far post and out of play. De Gea made a save, denying Chelsea from another goal, although the sting was taken out by the United defender, cutting down the impact of the shot.
United found themselves 3-0 down in the 74th minute after Chelsea broke forward again with Marcos Alonso beating his man on the left, rolling the ball to Antonio Rudiger. He challenged at the near post with Maguire, the ball then ricocheted off both players with Maguire getting the last touch before beating De Gea for the third time in the match. Solskjaer then send on both Odion Ighalo and Tim Fosu-Mensah for Marcus Rashford and Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the 79th minute, too late to fight back?
United won a penalty in the 86th minute after Callum Hudson-Odoi clipped Martial in the box. Bruno Fernandes stepped up to take the spot kick, putting it past Willy Caballero giving United only a consolation in this FA Cup semi-final. United just did not seem determined to get anything from this match after going 1-0 down, certainly not after 2-0 or 3-0 down. The penalty was literally the only thing United have to write home about. Back to the Premier League on Wednesday.
Manchester United
1 David De Gea
A terrible performance for the Spanish goalkeeper. He could have done more for Giroud's opener and definitely could have done better for Mount's goal, which put Chelsea 2-0 up over United. De Gea should be inspiring the team based on the length of time he's played for the club but today he let them down.
2 Victor Lindelof
The Swedish Iceman let Giroud open the scoring at the end of added time and the evidence of him being the main problem in the back four is all the more plain to see.
3 Eric Bailly
The Ivorian defender did not have the best of games against Chelsea. He came off injured after a lengthly break because of a collision of heads with Maguire, coming off on a stretcher in the end, after he had left the pitch. Not good for him, especially with all his other injuries.
5 Harry Maguire
The captain received a head injury towards the end of the first half and carried on playing. United looked very poor during this game and needed some inspiration, which they were not getting. United conceded a third goal which was awarded as an own goal for Maguire.
29 Aaron Wan-Bissaka
The right-back, playing as a right-wing-back was not all that energetic against Chelsea but tried to get the job done. He was replaced by Fosu-Mensah in the 79th minute of the match.
31 Nemanja Matic
The Serbian midfield veteran showed his experience in this match but United needed more than that. The team just seemed destined to lose the game form the very start of it. One defeat in 20 matches is not all that bad really.
17 Fred
It was a poor appearance for the Brazilian who just did not settle in the game. United were losing the game because of the weak midfield from the very start of the game. He was replaced in the 55th minute of the match by Pogba.
33 Brandon Williams
The left-back played as a left-wing-back in this game and looked annoyed that United were out of the game at the end of the first half. He continued to run during the game and continued to keep his head high.
18 Bruno Fernandes
The Portuguese midfielder forced a save early in the game and looked like he needed a rest. His passing was not the best, possibly because of fatigue. His missed Pogba in the game and when the Frenchman came on, it was probably too late to start something. Scored a late penalty, beating Willy Caballero this time.
21 Daniel James
The Welsh winger performed well against Chelsea in the past but today, he seemed out of form and out of sorts. It has been a long season for him. Perhaps he will improve next season? Who knows. This spectacularly failed today. Solskjaer will not be impressed. He was replaced by Greenwood on the 56th minute of the match.
10 Marcus Rashford
The England forward had a poor match against Chelsea. There was little creativity with a weaker midfield. 22 goals scored this season is a great start but it does not cover up the lack of creativity and options in this squad. Rightly replaced by Ighalo in the 79th minute of the match.
Substitutes
9 Anthony Martial
Replaced Bailly 45+2'. The Frenchman was fouled within a minute of him coming on - nothing given. He was unable to start the magic which was needed to get United fighting in this match. Won the penalty which Fernandes scored. Nothing else to say really. It just did not work for United today.
6 Paul Pogba
Replaced Fred 55'. The French World Cup winner should have come on much earlier than he did. The damage was already done when he came on at 2-0 down. United need serious options in this team as many players are playing above the level they should be, or so it seemed today.
11 Mason Greenwood
Replaced James 56'. He was unable to inspire United as he has in the very recent past. It is not his fault that United have relied upon him recently. United will need to bounce back from this.
24 Timothy Fosu-Mensah
Replaced Wan-Bissaka 79'. Came on late giving Wan-Bissaka some time to rest as he will likely start on Wednesday. The Dutchman did well and helped United minimise the damage, which had already been done.
25 Odion Ighalo
Replaced Rashford 79'. The Nigerian could have perhaps started this game ahead of James. When he came on, with 11 minutes to play, United just had no chance to get back into this game.
Goals: Bruno Fernandes 86′ penalty; Olivier Giroud 45+11′, Mason Mount 46′, Harry Maguire (og) 74′
Assists: Cesar Azpilicueta 45+11′
Manchester United: De Gea; Lindelof, Bailly (Martial 45+2′), Maguire; Wan-Bissaka (Fosu-Mensah 79′), Fred (Pogba 55′), Matic, Williams; Fernandes; James (Greenwood 56′), Rashford (Ighalo 79′)
Substitutes Not Used: Romero; Mata, Pereira, McTominay
Bookings: Paul Pogba 71′
Written by John Walker
