Chelsea got off to the worst possible start to their Premier League fixture against Manchester United when they went down to 10 men within the first five minutes.
Robert Sanchez took down Bryan Mbeumo when the United man was clean through on goal, and referee Peter Bankes did not hesitate to brandish the red card.
Chelsea were desperate to make a fast start and look to overcome their nightmare record at Old Trafford. Before this game, they were without a win in 12 years against this opposition away from home.
However, the opposite occurred, and they were forced to rethink their entire game plan before going behind to a Bruno Fernandes opener.
Mark Clattenburg gives thoughts on Robert Sanchez’s red card vs Manchester United
There was a brief VAR check to determine if the red card was the right decision, however the Spaniard was given his marching orders in the opening exchanges.
Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg exclusively told The Chelsea Chronicle that he believes the correct decision was made to send Sanchez off.
He said: “Robert Sanchez was rightly sent off for a wild challenge on Bryan Mbeumo. Once Mbeumo gets to the ball first, the contact was always going to happen and it’s clearly a foul.
“The next decision for the referee is the challenge worthy of a red card for denying a goal scoring opportunity. The ball is central and Mbeumo could get to the ball before the covering defender and with the goalkeeper already out of the goal, it becomes an easier decision to judge a red card.”
Enzo Maresca’s bizarre reaction to red card
Obviously the boss was going to have to bring on a goalkeeper following the red card, and it was Estevao Willian who was sacrificed for Filip Jorgensen to come on.
However, he followed this up with the substitution of Pedro Neto for Tosin Adarabioyo, and then later taking Cole Palmer off to bring on Andrey Santos.
It is clear that the boss wanted to get a foothold in the game, however to the naked eye left Chelsea with very little attacking threat if they were to get back in the contest.
Maresca will likely point to the fact that Palmer was struggling with an injury after the Bayern Munich match, and didn’t want to further that risk.
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