Manchester United’s winless run was extended to nine games in all competitions after losing to Chelsea. Michael Carrick was happy with the first-half display, but his team collapsed after the break.

Chelsea opened the scoring through Morgan Rogers just four minutes into the second half. It wasn’t long before Lisandro Martinez was sent off for his second yellow card in two minutes for barging into Wesley Fofana and giving away a penalty. Cole Palmer made it 2-0 from the spot.

United were guilty of wasting several chances on goal in the first half. Amad Diallo and Bruno Fernandes both sent their efforts over the bar when they only had to beat Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders.

The result means United could be in the relegation zone by the end of the weekend. It also puts Michael Carrick under even more pressure after a shocking start to the 2026/27 season.

Michael Carrick’s verdict on Man Utd’s 2-0 defeat against Chelsea

Although the players let Carrick down again, these results will do the 45-year-old no favours. The latest defeat to Chelsea will lead to talk of relegation because United are heading that way until they turn results around sooner rather than later.

Chelsea were there to be got at. Then, after conceding a soft goal at the beginning of the second half, the Reds didn’t look like a shadow of the team that performed in the first half. Chelsea took advantage, and there was no response from United.

When Carrick was asked whether the players had let down the fans who travelled to Stamford Bridge, he told TNT Sports there was a lot of emotion and that he put the poor result down to not starting the second half as planned.

“There is a lot of emotion,” Carrick said. “We are a great football club, but we want to win football matches. The supporters make a lot of effort and pay a lot of money to watch us play.

“You could see today the boys had the game in the right place, and things have gone against us in a big way and unravelled quite quickly. There is a lot of emotion right now.”

“I don’t think our heads dropped. The boys were in a good place in the first half. You could see that with the performance in the first half.

“It just gave them a lift. We didn’t start the second half great. They made the first blow, and that made the difference. We didn’t get going in the second half. We should’ve been up in the first half. Everything was as positive as we could’ve hoped for. We looked really dangerous.

“Found a way of unravelling in the second half. Bad goal to concede and then the penalty, we’re right up against it. The game turned on its head.”

The problem for Carrick is there’s something different every week. Fans are either critical of the players for not working hard enough, or games are being turned on their head – but never in our favour. He needs that to change quickly or else he’ll end up sacked.

United are back in action again on Tuesday night when they host Roma in the Champions League. Then, they’ll take on Aston Villa before the international break.