The sun was high and fierce and Michael Carrick shielded his eyes from it on the few occasions he got to his feet and tried to direct the Manchester United players, who did not seem to hear him. The United contingent hurled personal abuse at Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Jason Wilcox. The scrutiny was remorseless and unyielding.

For a time, there seemed to be hope - and no one can say that this latest hammer blow for Carrick removes the doubts about Xabi Alonso’s methods – but it was crushed by the same fecklessness and mindlessness that is burying United alive. 

Carrick did not cast so much as a glance at Lisandro Martinez - who had just finished off the team’s hopes by leaping with Wesley Fofana and extending an elbow into his face to concede a penalty - when he walked past on the way to the tunnel.

Bruno Fernandes and some others made a half-hearted protest about the dismissal but Carrick didn’t. He knew. This looked for all the world like a footballer looking to leave the field early – making no attempt to play the ball as he was up with Fofana, having been booked for a reckless challenge on Morgan Rogers, just three minutes earlier.

The Argentinian, whose words publicly challenging the club a few weeks back will always belong to the story of these Carrick-era death throes, will perhaps want to trash talk the club again when he has been shown the door. But it was also his own gross inadequacy which had allowed Morgan Rogers to dance through the defence to put Chelsea ahead. Martinez should never darken the door of a United squad again.

Bruno offers hope

There are few grounds for optimism from here but Fernandes is one. When he forfeited the chance to write a new script for himself – blasting into the stand after Bryan Mbeumo’s cross had gifted him a golden opportunity – the prospect of him righting the wrongs of the past week seemed forlorn.

By then, he had already been dumped on his backside by Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo and ceded possession. But he brushed off the mockery of the Chelsea faithful to put in a performance which demonstrated that he has a part to play at United. 

In front of the small United away section before the game, he went through a free-kick taking routine, arcing one into the top-left corner and striking another against the bar. 

He was the one who saw the picture late in the first half, sliding in a pass which sent Amad in. When United went 2-0 down, he conferred with Carrick. He lingered before United’s fans at the end and they accepted him. The turmoil remains but he will be needed.

Chelsea unconvincing

There can be no overstating the gravity of the week just passed for Xabi Alonso: a lamentable performance in defeat to Tottenham, the Carabao Cup defeat to Liverpool and the Spaniard’s suggestion that trophy didn’t matter, which has gone down badly with the fans. 

His brief programme notes made it clear how much he wanted something better here but the yawning gaps between Chelsea’s midfield and defensive lines and the ease with which United exploited them in the first half were disturbing. Wesley Fofana was lamentable.

United’s Amad could have plundered them twice – first burgling Fofana on the half-way line but lacking the pace to accelerate on and score, then easing into space and failing to despatch when one-on-one with Mike Penders. Cole Palmer’s error allowed Matheus Cunha to send Fernandes off but Mbeumo couldn’t connect with his cross. United’s failure to capitalise was fateful.

Sublime Rogers

As both sides squandered chances and laboured under basic defensive challenges, it was hard to countenance the notion that two gladiators of European football used to compete in this fixture and actually contested a Champions League final. 

The occasion cried out for a moment of class and it was Morgan Rogers who provided it, taking a ball Romeo Lavia had won, dancing his way through half of the Manchester United team and slipping the ball home. 

The defending shamed the traditions of the visiting team. Carlos Baleba, Andrey Santos, Martinez and Harry Maguire just watched Morgan go. But it was Rogers, taking his Chelsea tally to six goals and four assists in all competitions, who turned the game around.

Brittle, brittle United

It was always clear that the test of United’s mettle would come if they fell behind. The general view of the fans marching through Euston Station at 11am was that if United scored first they would come away with the points. If they conceded, their heads would drop and the psychological failure at the heart of this team would come to the fore. And so it came to pass. 

In a straw poll of 15 or so at Euston, only two thought Carrick was the man to restore ‘Standards’, to quote the mantra captured on an Old Trafford banner last week. The way Chelsea turned the screw just bore that pessimism. Cole Palmer converted the penalty Martinez had conceded to finish things off.

Estevao the jewel

It was to the jubilant cheers of the Chelsea faithful that Estevao left the field towards the end and this was an afternoon which will live long in the memory for him. Twice he had the ball in United’s net – pouncing on Senne Lammens' failure to hold a cross in the first half and taking Palmer’s pass to crash home in the second – but twice he was denied by VAR. 

By the end, he had the control of Chelsea’s right as he interlinked with Palmer and came close a third time. Some will say this calls into question Alonso’s decision to limit his game time so far, though it was only as United fell away to nothing that he ran the show.

What next for Carrick?

As the minutes ticked down on another desperate result for United, the away section sang Carrick’s name once more and, significantly, he walked over towards them alone once more, just as he had after the defeat at home to Bournemouth. But it was a less emphatic assertion of empathy and support for him this time, and he did not linger so long. 

The talk of Eddie Howe’s availability grows. It emerged on Saturday that under the terms of his departure agreement with Newcastle United that he will cost United only £3million. The United fans are really not convinced by him and it looks like the club will work through many more managers before a corner is turned. The constant will be that support base, who began and ended the match singing Sir Matt Busby’s name. They will always have their history.