Bruno Fernandes was reduced to tears as Manchester United’s winless run stretched to nine matches with defeat at Chelsea on Saturday.

The Red Devils endured another chastening afternoon as they visited west London. They actually appeared to have improved in the first half, but fell to pieces after the break as Morgan Rogers buried a superb solo goal.

Lisandro Martinez was then sent off after receiving two yellow cards in as many minutes, the second of which handed Chelsea a penalty. Cole Palmer duly dispatched it to make it 2-0, though the margin of victory might have been much wider as Estevao saw a pair of goals ruled out for marginal offsides.

For United, it is another frustrating outing, and Fernandes appeared to take this one personally.

He has endured a rocky start to the season, with his personal form far from that which earned him the PFA player of the year award last time around.

The Portugal international has also been at the centre of controversy in recent weeks after he criticised Michael Carrick’s tactics in a scathing interview following United’s Champions League defeat at Como.

He was dropped for United’s following match, the 3-0 home defeat by Bournemouth, before being reinstated at Stamford Bridge, where he again struggled to impose himself.

He played the full 90 minutes against Chelsea, but managed just one shot, which was off target. That came early on, as he fluffed his lines one-on-one with Mike Penders.

United return to action on Tuesday night, hosting Roma in the Champions League, but it remains to be seen whether Fernandes will be involved, or, indeed, if Carrick will be in the dugout.