Manchester United start the season with a bang as they hit FOUR past Chelsea with Marcus Rashford netting double either side of Anthony Martial strike before Dan James scored on his debut

• Manchester United took the lead in the first half after Marcus Rashford won and converted a penalty
• Frank Lampard’s men struck the woodwork twice in first half and were unlucky to head into the break behind 
• United doubled their lead shortly after the hour mark with Anthony Martial turning in Andreas Pereira’s cross
• Minutes later it was three and game over as Paul Pogba sent Rashford clean through to curl into the net
• Daniel James marked his United debut in the perfect fashion by coming off the bench to score their fourth

Nobody was wondering why Manchester United hadn’t signed a replacement striker after this.

Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial. Not so bad when you think about it. And, unlike the man who has just left, Romelu Lukaku, both with a reputation for scoring against big clubs. Chelsea are not going to be the force they were minus Eden Hazard and with a transfer embargo stifling recruitment, but even so this was an impressive scoreline to start United’s campaign.

Not least because, for just over an hour, Chelsea were very much in it and possibly the better side. David De Gea was the busier goalkeeper; his goal apparatus twice coming to the rescue when he could not.

Yet, in two second-half minutes, United’s strikers took the game away from them. Already leading from a Marcus Rashford penalty, they ended the match as a contest with two breakaway goals that, for now, cut short any conversation about what United might be missing upfront.

Speed. That is what terrifies defenders. And in Rashford and Martial, United possess it in abundance. Both goals came about because United can move from back to front at startling pace. The first even began on the edge of United’s own penalty area.

That is where Harry Maguire got the better of Tammy Abrahams – who had a quiet game after an electrifying start – and immediately fed the ball to Rashford. He set off down the field, blue shirts trailing in his wake before releasing Jesse Lingard with an overhit pass. He chased it down, though, the ball finding its way to Andreas Perreira whose low cross was turned in by Martial, his physicality winning the day.

Barely had the game restarted when it was as good as over. Paul Pogba – passing lovely, work-rate still leaving something to be desired – hit a fine pass that split Chelsea’s defence falling sweetly at the feet of Rashford. In the past, his finishing has been criticised. Not yesterday. He stuck it away, giving Kepa Arrizabalaga no chance. It was a clinical end to the contest.

Not to the scoring, though. With nine minutes remaining, United broke again. It was Pogba this time, his athletic strides powering through Chelsea’s shell-shocked defensive ranks, before delaying his pass to deftly roll the ball to United substitute Daniel James. The young man looked to have missed his chance by hesitating, then had another go and benefitted from a deflection off Emerson for his debut goal. Chelsea must have wondered how it had unravelled so quickly. It was the rudest of awakenings for Frank Lampard, with Liverpool in the UEFA Super Cup up next.

The first-half enjoyed by Kurt Zouma begged the question: just how much of a pest must David Luiz have been in the last week or so, that this became Frank Lampard’s preferred option. It was Zouma who was the difference between the teams in the opening 45 minutes. His clumsy challenge to concede a penalty the reason Chelsea trailed at half-time.

If anything, the Londoners had been the better team. They had hit the woodwork twice, got into good positions, threatened Manchester United with their bright, young side. Zouma, however, undermined it all. He should have given a goal away when passing the ball directly to Anthony Martial inside his own half – a lame finish by the Frenchman, easily saved by Kepa Arrizabalaga, earning him a reprieve.

There was no digging him out of the clumsy error ten minutes later, however, when he legged over Marcus Rashford and referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot. No quibbles from VAR and no resistance from Arrizabalaga, as Rashford took his now familiar angled run and whipped the ball deftly into the left side netting, high and out of reach. How pleasant, too, to see the end of Paul Pogba’s ego driven spot kicks. This wasn’t about the taker. This was about the team, and taking full advantage of these circumstances.

For it could have been very different. The game was only four minutes old when Tammy Abraham, entrusted with centre-forward duties ahead of Olivier Giroud, lashed a shot against David De Gea’s right post, with United’s goalkeeper in no position to stop it. In the 40th minute, a long, deep ball from Jorginho – looking much more effective now everything doesn’t have to pass through him – was missed by United’s entire back line, falling to Emerson on the left. He hit the same post as Abraham earlier. On the touchline, Lampard looked stunned by his ill-fortune.

These were not Chelsea’s only chances. Mason Mount took a lovely touch before having his shot saved, after a pass by Pedro, while Ross Barkley had a decent attempt travel wide after 35 minutes. De Gea remains United’s lynchpin, however, and four minutes later a lovely move involving Jorginho, Pedro and finally Barkley produced his best save of the half.

United’s best chances were often not of their making. Martial had another on 30 minutes, started when Barkley lost the ball, and six minutes later Zouma was first into the book for a desperately ill-timed challenge on Andreas Pereira.

https://youtu.be/Jt3hHGxeWjs

source:dailymail