McTominay double sinks Chelsea as Ten Hag silences critics

Scott McTominay scored a brace as Manchester United defeated Chelsea 2-1 on Wednesday to relieve the pressure on manager Erik ten Hag and heap more misery on Mauricio Pochettino.

Ten Hag saw his team bounce back from a dismal display in a 1-0 loss to Newcastle on Saturday as United put up arguably their best performance of the season.

A sixth victory in eight league games propels United to sixth and within three points of champions Manchester City in fourth.

Chelsea, who have spent over £1 billion ($1.26 billion) on new players in three transfer windows, languish in 10th.

The hope that Pochettino’s arrival would spark a swift revival has been dashed, as the Argentine has only managed five wins in his first 15 league games at the helm.

Ten Hag had faced growing criticism amid rumours of dressing room unrest.

But his bold move to bench Marcus Rashford among four changes paid off, as the Dutchman was rewarded with a much more lively and adventurous display.

Chelsea owed their goalkeeper Robert Sanchez a debt of gratitude for keeping them in the game at halftime.

United had 18 shots on target before the break—the most Chelsea have conceded in one half in the Premier League in 20 years—but only had one goal to show for it.

A VAR decision to give a penalty after Enzo Fernandez tripped Antony gave the hosts a golden opportunity to break the deadlock.

But Sanchez dove low to his right to keep out Bruno Fernandes’ spot-kick, and Alejandro Garnacho fired the rebound over.

United’s eagerness to push forward also left spaces for Chelsea to exploit on the break.

Mykhailo Mudryk hit the outside of the post, and the Ukrainian should have played Raheem Sterling through on goal, but a bad pass spoiled another promising attack.

Sanchez was called into action again to save a powerful shot from Garnacho, while Antony’s drought of 24 games without a goal continued as he shot weakly into the Spanish international’s hands.

Chelsea and Sanchez’s resilience was finally shattered when McTominay drove home his fifth goal of the season to become United’s top scorer in the Premier League after 19 minutes.

The Scottish midfielder could have had a second soon after, when his header from close range and follow-up shot were both superbly saved by Sanchez.

And the visitors made them pay as Chelsea equalised before halftime.

Cole Palmer was given too much space to weave his way along the edge of the box and slotted into the far corner past Andre Onana’s reach.

Chelsea could have turned the game around early in the second half had Nicolas Jackson not squandered a glorious chance when he headed over unmarked from a corner at the back post.

But United were quickly back on the front foot.

Garnacho kept ruining his luck as a curling shot went inches wide.

But the Argentine had a role in the winning goal, as his cross was headed in by McTominay 21 minutes from time.

McTominay should have had a hat-trick when he sliced horribly wide, with only Sanchez to beat.

United’s wastefulness gave Chelsea the chance to snatch a point late on when Armando Broja headed against the crossbar.

But that would have been more than the Blues deserved as Pochettino struggles to mould Chelsea’s abundance of young talent into a cohesive unit.