Chelsea 2-0 Manchester United: result and report

The Pundit picked Chelsea (41%): correct

Report

Chelsea beat Manchester United 2-0 and deserved to, though the game stayed goalless until early in the second half.

The breakthrough came on 50 minutes, when Morgan Rogers scored from Roméo Lavia's pass. The decisive spell followed soon after. Lisandro Martínez was shown a second yellow card on 63 minutes. A minute later, Cole Palmer scored a penalty to make it 2-0. Manchester United then had to chase the game with ten men, so a reply always looked unlikely.

Chelsea won because they created far more. They finished with 2.44 xG to 1.12, took 17 shots to seven and put 10 on target to five. That kept Manchester United's goalkeeper busy, with eight saves against three at the other end. Chelsea also had 62 dangerous attacks to 38, which suggests they spent much more of the match in areas that hurt the visitors.

There is still a caveat. Manchester United had four big chances, the same number as Chelsea, and missed all four. Both sides also hit the woodwork once. So the visitors did open Chelsea up at times; they just failed to take any of it, while Chelsea missed only two of their big chances.