McTominay scores double against Chelsea to reduce pressure on Ten Hag

McTominay scores double against Chelsea to reduce pressure on Ten Hag

Scott McTominay relieved some of the pressure surrounding Erik Ten Hag as his double earned an improved Manchester United a much-needed 2-1 win over Chelsea.

Ten Hag’s gamble in dropping both Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial amid reports of dressing-room disharmony had the desired effect for the under-fire manager, with the hosts’ quality with and without the ball a world away from Saturday’s dismal defeat at Newcastle.

McTominay opened the scoring on the rebound from Harry Maguire’s effort (19), but Unitwd would have already been ahead had Bruno Fernandes not seen an eighth-minute penalty saved.

United dominated the opening period without adding to their lead, and were made to pay on the stroke of half-time when Cole Palmer fired home a well-placed strike from just inside the area.

The home side were less effective following the interval but McTominay (69) restored their advantage with a close-range header from Alejandro Garnacho’s cross, before the Argentine wasted a glorious opportunity to wrap up victory on the break.

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It mattered little in the end, as United’s performance cut through the noise surrounding the club to finally earn a first point – and win – of the season against an opponent in the top half of the Premier League, and lifted them just three points off the top four.

However, Leon Bailey’s deflected strike earned Aston Villa a deserved 1-0 win over Manchester City at Villa Park that lifted them above the reigning champions into third.

The goal came late in the game to maintain the perfect home record of Unai Emery’s side and reflected their superior endeavour throughout the contest against an unusually passive City. It is now four Premier League games without a win for Pep Guardiola’s side.

Erling Haaland did have two chances in the first half but City never looked comfortable, missing the suspended Rodri badly. They drop to fourth in the table and are now six points adrift of Arsenal. On this evidence, they may need to worry about Villa too.

McTominay scores double against Chelsea to reduce pressure on Ten Hag

(SkySport)