Chelsea beat Man United as Martinez sent off to put pressure on Carrick | Soccer

Michael Carrick’s stay of execution as Manchester United boss may not last long after his side imploded in a 2-0 Premier League defeat at Chelsea.

The visitors missed a string of chances to take the lead at Stamford Bridge on Saturday before Morgan Rogers waltzed through the heart of United’s defense to open the scoring in the 50th minute.

Lisandro Martinez then ruined any chance of a revival for Carrick’s men with two flash yellow cards, the second of which also conceded a penalty converted by Cole Palmer.

Without a win in nine games, their defeat leaves the 20-time English champions just one point above the relegation zone and in danger of finishing the weekend in the bottom three.

Many expected Carrick to be eliminated after last weekend’s 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth.

The former United midfielder instead had the opportunity to turn his team’s fortunes around and will lament a lack of ruthlessness during the first half.

Carrick recalled captain Bruno Fernandes after he was sent off last weekend after criticizing his manager’s tactics during the 4-1 defeat at Como in the Champions League.

Fernandes should have marked his comeback with the opener when he volleyed home Bryan Mbeumo’s inviting cross.

The roles were reversed when Mbeumo was unable to stretch to meet Fernandes’ delivery at the far post before Amad Diallo was twice denied by Chelsea substitute goalkeeper Mike Penders.

United finally put the ball in the net when Matheus Cunha turned Harry Maguire’s header from a corner, but the Brazilian had strayed just offside.

Carrick could not hide his frustration during a half-time interview with the broadcasters and his mood deteriorated further with a disastrous start to the second half.

Chelsea’s Rogers credits Carrick for revitalizing his career during a spell together at Middlesbrough, but he has dealt a potentially decisive blow to his former boss.

The England international collected the ball inside the center circle but was allowed to head straight towards the United goal before slotting the ball over Senne Lammens.

Martinez has also spoken out publicly in recent weeks to criticize United’s lack of spending in the transfer market to strengthen Carrick’s squad.

But based on the evidence this season, Martinez is one of those most in need of replacement.

The Argentina international was unable to cope with Rogers’ strength moments later as he was penalized for bringing down the Chelsea striker.

From the resulting free kick, Martinez then crashed needlessly into Wesley Fofana with a raised forearm.

After a VAR review, referee Peter Banks awarded a penalty and showed Martinez a second yellow card.

Lammens got a hand to Palmer’s kick but still allowed the ball to trickle into the bottom corner.

In a rare start since Xabi Alonso took charge of the Blues, Estevao was denied a third goal for offside when he crushed a Palmer pass into the top corner.

Cries of ‘dismissal in the morning’ rained down from Chelsea fans as their side toyed with United for the final quarter without increasing their lead.

Another big decision awaits United’s hierarchy ahead of Tuesday’s massive Champions League clash at home to Roma.

Beaten in two of their three European matches so far, United face both the embarrassment and financial shock of an early exit should they suffer another defeat against the Italians at Old Trafford.