Manchester United’s challenging week concluded with a 1-1 draw against Chelsea, marking the club’s worst league start in nearly 40 years.
Moises Caicedo’s impressive long-range volley earned Chelsea a point, leaving United with 12 points, the lowest total after 10 games since the 1986-87 season, according to Opta, the Premier League’s stats provider.
That was the same year Alex Ferguson was brought in and went on to lead the team to significant success, winning 13 Premier League titles and two Champions League trophies.
United fans can only hope this serves as a good sign after Erik ten Hag was let go this week and replaced by Ruben Amorim.
“Whenever you see a manager go, you have to take some of the blame on yourself because the team is not doing well,” said United captain Bruno Fernandes on Sunday. “I spoke to the manager (Ten Hag) and apologized to him. I was disappointed he has gone, and I tried to help him.”
Fernandes scored for United from the penalty spot in the 70th minute as interim coach Ruud van Nistelrooy aimed to secure consecutive wins after a 5-2 victory against Leicester in the League Cup on Wednesday.
However, in front of singer Olivia Rodrigo, Caicedo’s goal from the edge of the box just four minutes later ensured the match ended in a draw.
“I think we did the most difficult thing in this stadium against this team … we were down and we came back immediately,” said Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca.
Chelsea moved up to fourth place in the standings, ahead of Arsenal on goal difference, while Manchester United is six points behind in 13th place, trying to catch up in the race for Champions League qualification.
Earlier in the day, Tottenham defeated Aston Villa 4-1. Ten Hag was let go on Monday, and while Amorim has been named as his replacement, he won’t start until November 11.
Van Nistelrooy is in charge until then, and for a brief period, he made managing in the top flight seem quite straightforward.
Fernandes’ penalty put United close to a win that would have brought them within four points of the top four. But then Caicedo scored.
“I am disappointed we didn’t win; we had the better chances in the game, but the performance was fantastic. They left everything on the pitch,” said Van Nistelrooy.
His future is uncertain once Amorim takes over, but he has two matches—against PAOK Salonika in the Europa League and Leicester in the league—before he hands over to the new coach.
“We’ll be backing him (Amorim) and helping him to get Manchester United to where we want it to be,” Van Nistelrooy said.
