Maresca must axe 4/10 Chelsea star who won just 2 duels

Chelsea would have fancied their chances heading to Old Trafford.

After all, going into the contest away at Manchester United, the Red Devils had just succumbed to a disastrous 3-0 defeat in the Manchester Derby, with Enzo Maresca’s Blues still unbeaten in the bread and butter of the Premier League, despite just falling to a 3-1 loss in the Champions League against Bayern Munich.

However, any optimism heading into the tie would be instantly obliterated by Robert Sanchez’s reckless early red card, as the ropey Blues goalkeeper took out Bryan Mbeumo before the ex-Brentford attacker could even register an effort at his goal.

Of course, Casemiro did also receive his marching orders for a second yellow in first-half added-on time, but the damage of that earlier dismissal was already clear for all to see, as Ruben Amorim’s men raced into a two-goal advantage.

Trevoh Chalobah did score towards the end to give Chelsea some late hope, but Sanchez’s stupidity ultimately cost the Blues dear in the 2-1 defeat, with questions now needing to be asked about his first-team spot moving forward.

Sanchez’s horror show

Amazingly, Sanchez’s dismissal after just five minutes is Chelsea’s earliest ever red card in Premier League action.

That isn’t exactly a badge of honour that the error-prone Spaniard will be wearing, however.

More so, it brings into view even clearer how much of an uphill battle the away side had on their hands in a first-half that ended up being largely dominated by the hosts, who aren’t free from a calamitous moment themselves.

Sanchez’s rash decision-making resulted in Chelsea’s attack being significantly stunted, as Maresca substituted off both Estevao and Pedro Neto in quick succession for a defensive focus. He even decided to bring off Cole Palmer after just 21 minutes, with the likes of Joao Pedro, who remained, offering very little.

If it hadn’t been for the major shock after five minutes, Chelsea might well have gained another three points or a draw out of the game. But, instead, in the torrential conditions, everything fell to pieces in a 2-1 loss.

Still, other individuals who did see out most of the contest aren’t completely blameless, despite the actions of Sanchez setting them up to fail.

The 4/10 star who must now be dropped

Indeed, there were still 85 minutes on the clock for Chelsea to turn their fortunes around, even if gaining a result seemed slim.

The defenders – minus Sanchez – who graced the Old Trafford turf for most of the turbulent clash didn’t cover themselves in much glory, either, with Marc Cucurella – in particular – struggling throughout, away from Reece James’ sliced clearance gifting Casemiro United’s second of the day.

At least James did win seven duels, as per Sofascore, to hold his head high somewhat. On the contrary, a shoddy Cucurella would win just two duels all match from the left-back spot, as he failed to grapple with the aforementioned Mbeumo.

On top of that, he further failed to impress in the forward areas, as the likes of Noussair Mazraoui and Patrick Dorgu for Amorim and Co. showed the former Brighton and Hove Albion how it’s done when foraying up the pitch, with Dorgu going on to assist Bruno Fernandes’ opener.

The below-par defender would retreat into his shell in this capacity, unfortunately, with zero accurate crosses or successful dribbles tallied up, leading to Maresca hauling him off at the hour mark, among other poor moments.

The Sun’s Katherine Walsh didn’t wax lyrical about Cucurella’s 64-minute runout either, dishing out a low 4/10 post-match rating to the number three, who she stated was routinely ‘second best’ to the likes of Mbeumo.

Maresca will hope he can rule this defeat out as a fluke, with the stormy conditions making for a feisty affair kick-started by Sanchez’s brainless intervention.

But, he will also know who he can trust more now in some tough moments to come this season, as both the red-carded keeper and Cucurella potentially fear for their first-team futures going forward.