Chelsea saw their lead at the top of the Premier League trimmed to four points after falling to a 2-0 defeat at Manchester United on Sunday.

It was one of those days when everything that could go wrong did go wrong for Chelsea. With Thibaut Courtois already ruled out with an injury, Marcos Alonso then failed to make it through the prematch warm-up due to illness.

Things did not get better when the match began with referee Bobby Madley handing the initiative to the hosts with a shocking piece of officiating. Despite Ander Herrera committing the clearest of handballs, play was waved on, with Marcus Rashford scoring from his teammate's through ball. In truth, Chelsea failed to deal with United's energy from then on and were second best in every department. Herrera's deflected strike to make it 2-0 early in the second half effectively put the game beyond Chelsea's reach. That David De Gea did not have a single shot to save says it all.

Positives

Chelsea must surely have rid themselves of all their bad luck and poor individual performances during this game, as they have not played anywhere near this badly all season. They also have their toughest remaining fixture out of the way. But there was nothing positive to take from the game itself.

Negatives

Where to start? Awful decision-making all over the pitch, second in every 50-50 situation, slow to adjust to United's tactics, sloppy passing throughout the team -- the list could go on and on. This was the complete antithesis of Chelsea's season to date.

Manager rating out of 10

5 -- Antonio Conte's task was made more complicated by the unavailability of Courtois and Alonso, though the inability of his players to adapt to the events transpiring in front of them was a concern. Should have changed the shape and brought on Cesc Fabregas earlier than he did, with his favoured 3-4-3 formation having been negated from the first whistle.

Player ratings (1-10, 10 = best; players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)

GK Asmir Begovic, 6 -- Made no glaring errors, though it was hard to escape the feeling that Courtois might have done better with both of the opponent's goals.

DF Kurt Zouma, 6 -- Was drafted in late for the sick Alonso and did not have an easy ride. Was not helped by a collectively poor defensive display and looked unsuited to the right-back berth he was given in the second half.

DF David Luiz, 5 -- Was constantly troubled by Rashford's pace and the rest of his game was disturbed as a result. His distribution was wild and he lost the ball every time he stepped out into midfield.

DF Gary Cahill, 5 -- Was another to struggle with the hosts' dynamic duo of Rashford and Jesse Lingard. Was left chasing shadows for much of the match.

MF Cesar Azpilicueta, 6 -- Put in a strangely anonymous game that might have partially been due to playing at wing-back and then full-back.

MF Victor Moses, 5 -- Found himself pulled out of position by United's movement, which made life very difficult all afternoon. Did not contribute at all going forward, in keeping with the rest of his team.

MF N'Golo Kante, 8 -- Won the ball back on numerous occasions in his trademark style, but unfortunately nobody in blue did anything with it. Was the only Chelsea man to play at his usual level.

MF Nemanja Matic, 5 -- Was bypassed time and again in the first half and failed to provide a defensive shield. Was caught in possession too often and understandably substituted.

FW Pedro, 7 -- Never stopped running and grew in menace as the game wore on without supplying a cutting edge. With Eden Hazard closely monitored, he should have been used more often on the counter-attack.

FW Eden Hazard, 6 -- Could not break the restraints imposed by Herrera's man-marking mission. Never shirked his responsibilities, but simply could not find the space to play.

FW Diego Costa, 3 -- It is hard to think of a worse performance by him in a Chelsea shirt. Butchered an excellent early chance to counter-attack by selfishly hanging on to the ball, failed to control even the most gentle of passes into him and seemed more concerned with threatening Marcos Rojo than the United goal. Can count himself extremely lucky not to have been substituted.

Substitutes

MF Cesc Fabregas, 6 -- His introduction and the accompanying change in system brought Chelsea into the game, but by then United were happy to sit on their two-goal lead.

FW, Willian, N/R -- Flitted around and delivered a couple of half decent corners without ever looking dangerous.

FW, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, N/R -- Had little time to affect anything, though Conte's decision to throw him on with two goals required must have been particularly galling for the lesser-spotted Michy Batshuayi.

Source:
courtesy of ESPNFC

by PHIL LYTHELL

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