Frank Lampard’s first competitive game as Chelsea manager did not go according to plan as the West London side endured an embarrassing defeat against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United on the opening day of the Premier League season.
Chelsea made an encouraging start to the game in a hostile atmosphere at Old Trafford when frontman Tammy Abraham hit the post at the scores being 0-0. Even left-back Emerson struck the bar and Ross Barkley produced a great save off David De Gea to keep the score at 1-0.
However, Kurt Zouma’s foul of Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford earned the home side a penalty and the 21-year-old Englishman stepped up from the spot to give the hosts the lead on the 18th minute. This goal came against the run of play but Chelsea wasn’t able to make an impact on the scoreline in the first period.
The second period did not go Chelsea’s way as the harsh nature of the Premier League reflected on Lampard’s start to his managerial career. Antony Martial and Rashford put the game beyond Chelsea’s reach in a 95-second spell in the second half and Daniel James added the final nail in the coffin to make it 4-0 on 81 minutes.
There were some encouraging signs for Chelsea while going forward but they looked very poor in defense especially considering the fact that they were playing against a top-six team away from home.
Lampard has quite a few tweaks to handle before Chelsea travel to Istanbul to face Liverpool in the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday night.
