Chelsea 2-0 Man Utd: Martínez lost it, Carrick picked him

Twenty fouls to Chelsea's eight. That's the number from Chelsea vs Man Utd that tells you how the second half went, because a side that's in control doesn't need to kick people. It finished Chelsea 2-0 Man Utd at Stamford Bridge: Morgan Rogers on 50 minutes, Cole Palmer from the spot on 64, and Lisandro Martínez sent off in between. Nine games without a win in all competitions, confirmed by Sky and AFP. Sixteenth, seven points from nine games, one above the drop.

And the maddening part is the first half was the best we've looked in weeks.

We had them, and Bruno blazed it over

Bruno Fernandes was back in the side after being dropped for Bournemouth, and for 45 minutes it showed. On 19 minutes he fired over from close range on a counter, unmarked. Amad Diallo was twice denied by Mike Penders, Chelsea's stand-in keeper, and Matheus Cunha had a header ruled out for offside. We weren't pinned back. We were the side making chances.

Read more: Man Utd keep going behind: 7 of 12 games this season

Not one went in. That's the season in a sentence: when we play well we don't score, and when we don't score we fall apart. Joshua Zirkzee, our only fit striker, sat on the bench until 77 minutes while Bryan Mbeumo played up front on his own again. Same problem as last week. Same answer from the manager.

Two yellows, one VAR check, game over

Five minutes after the break Rogers carried the ball into the box and chipped Senne Lammens, and Sky's report says he went through unchallenged. Nobody laid a glove on him.

Then Martínez lost his head. First a yellow for pulling Rogers back. Minutes later, with Chelsea taking a corner, VAR sent Peter Bankes to the screen for a raised arm in Wesley Fofana's face. Second yellow, penalty, and Palmer scored it. Game over at 2-0 with 26 minutes to go.

You couldn't make it up, except we can, because we've seen it before. Martínez was sent off against Leeds in April after a VAR check too, the one Carrick called "one of the worst I've ever seen". There's no arguing this one. He came off the bench against Bournemouth last week and the third goal went in six minutes later. Ayden Heaven was sat on the bench today. Carrick picked Martínez anyway. That's on Carrick as much as the player.

After the red we didn't tighten up, we got ragged. Harry Maguire, Kobbie Mainoo, Mbeumo and Zirkzee were all booked between the 65th and 86th minutes, per Sports Mole's timeline. Every one of United's six yellow cards came after Rogers scored. A team with a plan for being 1-0 down doesn't do that. Chelsea had 18 shots to our 12 and 59% of the ball, and only Lammens kept it at two.

On r/reddevils, one fan asked the obvious: "why is Carrick continuing to play him?" Another nailed the second half: "We utterly lost the head in the second half, including loads of stupid yellows." Both right.

Roma on Tuesday, and Carrick shouldn't be there

Next is Roma at Old Trafford in the Champions League on Tuesday night, having lost two of our three European games, at Atlético and Como. AFP reports Chelsea's fans were singing "sacked in the morning" at him, and says many expected him gone after Bournemouth. Nothing's been confirmed by the club at the time of writing. The preview asked if Bruno coming back would save him. It didn't, because the problem was never one player.

The first half today is what Jason Wilcox and Omar Berrada will point to if they keep him. Don't fall for it. One decent half doesn't cancel nine games, and a manager who keeps picking a centre-half who keeps costing us has stopped learning from his own mistakes. As I said after the Bournemouth defeat, changing the manager fixes nothing if the same people pick the next one. But not changing him now is just waiting for the drop to decide it for them.

Ratings out of 10

• Senne Lammens 7: kept it at two when it could have been four. Nothing he could do about Rogers' chip.
• Leny Yoro 6.5: tidy at right-back, which says more about the rest than about him.
• Harry Maguire 5: part of the back line Rogers walked through, then booked.
• Lisandro Martínez 2: a yellow for pulling Rogers back, then an arm in Fofana's face. Cost us the game. Again.
• Diogo Dalot 5: busy, nothing came of it.
• Andrey Santos 5: competed, got overrun once Chelsea pushed up. Off on 66.
• Carlos Baleba 4.5: off the pace, hooked on 58 minutes.
• Amad Diallo 6.5: our best attacker, twice denied by Penders. Why take him off at 2-0 down?
• Bruno Fernandes 5.5: livelier back in the side, but the miss on 19 minutes is the one we'll remember.
• Matheus Cunha 5.5: unlucky with the offside header, faded after the break.
• Bryan Mbeumo 5: alone up front again. Booked out of frustration late on.
• Kobbie Mainoo (sub) 5: on for Baleba, booked within 12 minutes.
• Ayden Heaven (sub) 5: on with ten men and two down. Should have started.
• Mason Mount (sub) 5: 24 minutes chasing shadows.
• Joshua Zirkzee (sub) 4.5: on at 77, booked at 86. Our only striker deserved better than that.

I called this Chelsea 2-1 Man Utd. Right result, and I was still too generous. It's settled on the scorecard, and these marks go on our player ratings tracker.