Manchester United's 2-0 Premier League defeat to Chelsea at the weekend included a seven-second sequence of four defensive mistakes that allowed Morgan Rogers to score the opening goal. Despite creating plenty of big chances in the first half, United fell behind and never recovered.
Two alternative angles of Rogers' goal are being shared on social media, and both make for an excruciating watch for United fans. One, from Peter Bankes's Refcam, shows United players appearing to bounce off an invisible forcefield around the Chelsea forward. The other, from the Premier League's own account, makes it look as if Rogers is clean through on goal, such is the absence of United bodies anywhere near him.
How the move started
The first mistake came when Bruno Fernandes played an aimless pass and Moises Caicedo's heavy touch saw the ball fall to Bryan Mbeumo's feet. Mbeumo attempted to hold and shield the ball from Caicedo but conceded possession, and so the move started.
The second mistake followed as Carlos Baleba, the closest red shirt to Mbeumo, tried to quickly win the ball back but was too slow to react and made a late challenge on Romeo Lavia. The turnover left United in a difficult position, with Leny Yoro out of position having pushed up from right-back, leaving Rogers to run against Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez and Diogo Dalot.
The slide tackle that went viral
Andrey Santos' role in the goal is perhaps the most bemusing. He sprinted back when Rogers picked up the ball and managed to close him down to get to within a few yards, but what he did next was inexplicable. The Brazilian attempted a slide tackle when he was a few yards off Rogers. It seems like Santos was trying to block a short pass from Rogers to Cole Palmer on the right rather than trying to tackle the man, but even if that were true, it would still have been the wrong decision. Refcam footage shows Rogers is firmly set on heading towards the United goal rather than playing in a teammate, so Santos was trying to block a pass that was never likely to be made.
Once Santos had failed to stop Rogers' run, it was over to the backline.
The gap in the defence
Maguire and Martinez have been disastrous as a pair this season and the goal sums up their form. There were no tricks or feints; Rogers simply ran through the gap between them. Maguire had Estevao making a run over his right shoulder and so he could almost be forgiven for not dealing with the threat at hand, but Martinez has no such excuse. He had Palmer making a similar run over his left shoulder, but Dalot was there to deal with him. With Yoro out of position, Maguire could not pass on the man to his full-back.
Martinez failed to commit and Rogers soon had the whites of Lammens' eyes in his sights. The Belgium shot-stopper tried to stay as big as he could but the damage had been done. Lammens should have berated his teammates for their amateurish defending, but there was very little reaction from the goalkeeper as United found themselves behind once again. If ever a reaction summed up the feeling around United right now, perhaps it was that.
