My oh my. You think you’ve seen it all. And then a game like this happens.
And let’s be clear – the quality in this match was not particularly high. Chelsea beat Manchester United 4-3 on Thursday night, but neither really earned the win, more that both tried their best to lose.
It seemed destined to be a crazy evening from the off. After only four minutes, Chelsea went ahead through Conor Gallagher, who was able to guide the ball home after Malo Gusto’s cross deflected to him off the heels of Raphael Varane.
Before United could create a meaningful attack, they conceded a penalty – Antony clipped Marc Cucurella’s heels and the referee was quick to point to the spot. Cole Palmer then made no mistake from 12 yards, silencing the away fans who had chanted he was a ‘City reject’.
Chelsea were cruising and looking for a third, but they were the architects of their own first-half downfall. Moises Caicedo gifted the ball to Alejandro Garnacho, who sprinted through and slotted beyond Djordje Petrovic to get United off the mark.
And moments later, United were level, with Diogo Dalot crossing for an unmarked Bruno Fernandes to head home at the far post.
United started the second half brightly and nearly turned the game completely around when Harry Maguire dribbled his way through the Chelsea box before firing over.
A frantic affair swung the way of United midway through the second half when Antony chalked up his first assist of the season, finding the head of Garnacho with a tremendous outside-of-the-boot cross.
Chelsea didn’t threaten a lot until the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time when Noni Madueke was bundled over by Dalot, who had slipped and lightly caught the winger on his way over. VAR took a good long look at the challenge before agreeing with the referee’s decision.
Palmer again rolled the ball home from 12 yards to bring Chelsea level, but that’s not where the madness ended.
Carney Chukwuemeka’s strike almost immediately from the resulting kick-off was deflected behind, and from the resulting corner, Palmer scored the latest winner in Premier League history.
DJ, play One Step Beyond by Madness.
What now for United? How do they pick themselves off the canvas again? Why can’t they seem to stop the rot?
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