A lot of people had a point to prove as current Premier League champions Chelsea welcomed Manchester United to Stamford Bridge today.

A lot was made before kick-off that the biggest match-up was going to be between the respective managers as Jose Mourinho returned to face his former club. The Man Utd gaffer also had a run-in with Blues boss Antonio Conte last term.

Another major pre-game talking point was the two club’s main strikers.

Both cost their respective clubs big money in the summer transfer window and were in the middle of a lull in goalscoring form after starting the season with a bang.

Plus both Romelu Lukaku and Alvaro Morata were heavily linked with a move to their respective opponents today before they ended up at their current sides.

In the end it was Conte, Chelsea and Morata that had the last laugh with the London club enjoying a deserved 1-0 victory. That’s now three games that Mourinho has returned to Stamford Bridge since his sacking in 2015 and the Portuguese manager has yet to win or even draw against his former employers.

In terms of comparing the two hitmen, Morata was cuter with his runs and was more tenacious with his style.

The Spaniard was in the United defender’s faces and he was a threat whenever Chelsea were on the attack.

On the other hand, Belgian forward Lukaku had another poor performance. His first touch wasn’t good enough and he was often left isolated up-top..

In fairness to Romelu, he didn’t get too much in the way of decent service. United gave a disjointed outing as too many passes went astray, too many set-pieces were poor and crosses into the Chelsea penalty area were often non-existent.

Whereas Conte’s men had maestros Cesc Fabregas and Eden Hazard pulling the strings, that allowed Alvaro to be adventurous with his runs knowing he had playmakers who could find him.

While Hazard and Fabregas were both fantastic on the ball, it was actually Spanish defender Cesar Azpilicueta who created the chance that Morata took to give his side their latest victory over Man United.

We shouldn’t be surprised by the goalscoring combo of Cesar and Alvaro, as it’s been very fruitful for the Blues thus far this term.

Cesar Azpilicueta to Álvaro Morata is the most prolific assist to goalscorer combination in the Premier League this season, yielding 5 goals

— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) November 5, 2017

Azpilicueta received the ball inside United’s half and noticed Alvaro Morata finding a pocket of space in between two Man Utd defenders. Special mention should be given to Tiemoue Bakayoko whose run took away one of Morata’s markers.

Cesar then hit an inch perfect pass and Morata expertly directed his header beyond countryman fellow David de Gea. His powerful header flew into the top corner from just inside of the penalty area and that’s no mean feat.

Morata was brought in to get goals, especially winners in the big games. The same could be said of Lukaku at Manchester United.

Yet it was the Spanish internationalist who made the most out of his opportunity this evening and that was to the delight of Chelsea’s supporters and to the dismay of Lukaku and Mourinho.

It could be a big goal for Chelsea this season and might turn things around at the Bridge.

Posted on November 5th, 2017 by scott
Filed under: Article