3 Reasons why Chelsea lost 2-0 to Manchester United | FA Cup 2018-19

Chelsea fell to another defeat this month, this time at the hands of Manchester United, who brushed aside Maurizio Sarri's men to progress to the last 8 of the FA Cup. Two well-placed headers from Ander Herrera and star man Paul Pogba engineered a massive comeback, especially after the defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

The game began at a frenetic pace, with both sides recording a couple of shots each on target inside the first 10 minutes. Since then, Chelsea had most of the ball but not the right number of chances to show for it. Manchester United, on the contrary, had amassed five efforts on target in the first 45 minutes.

They dislodged Chelsea's set up on the counter, whipped dangerous yet delightful crosses into the box and grabbed their chances with both hands when a response was required. For Chelsea, along with the problems in front of goal that continue to inflate, their defence is starting to crack open time and time again now.

A lot of talking points reached the surface and probably, the boiling point, as far as Sarri's tactics and the players' appetite is concerned.

But here, let's, first of all, analyze three reasons behind Chelsea's demoralizing defeat to Manchester United in the FA Cup fifth round.

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#3 Sarri's substitutions

Sarri is probably the most stubborn manager to have been at Chelsea

We have discussed a lot about Jorginho's lack of agility, defensive inabilities and N'Golo Kante's misuse, but here, another thing to be noted is how horribly Sarri went about his substitutions.

There was absolutely no idea of urgency about Chelsea's play. They knocked it around safely with meagre movement in the final third. First of all, with such a system and situational demands, Sarri should not have waited until the 71st minute to bring on the in-form Ross Barkley.

Kovacic was safe as a house with his hold-up and passing, but he is nowhere as good as the former Everton man in the advanced areas of the pitch. Barkley meanwhile, is a willing runner - someone who darts down the left channel and exploits the box as well. Not to mention, he can strike the long ball.

Next, why would you bring on Davide Zappacosta, who has barely kicked a ball about this season, when you are trailing 2-0 at home to Manchester United, in need of a serious reply? Willian, who has not created even one-third of the chances from open play than he does from set pieces, was called upon to find an equalizer.

The Brazilian was wasteful with his final pass and was a shadow of his true self. Callum Hudson-Odoi is fresh, direct and lively. He can put in the right balls into the box, but he was not even asked to warm up.

And of course, with every substitution that didn't happen to be Jorginho, the Chelsea fans went totally berserk.

#2 No straightforwardness while going forward

To say the least, Willian is past his prime

If one looks at Chelsea's approach without having an eye on the scoreline, they'd infer that Eden Hazard and co. are on their holidays, passing the ball around at a beach. Despite having seen 67% of the possession in the first half, there were just two accurate efforts.

That's still a decent stat when compared to the fact that since the 11th minute, Chelsea managed nothing on target. We can question the absence of a fitting response from the players, but before, let's critique the Blues' lazy, pedestrian-paced approach on the pitch.

Gonzalo Higuain has only netted against a beleaguered Huddersfield side, while Hazard, who looked lively during the opening exchanges, barely seemed to take a touch inside the opposition box in the second half. We already mentioned Willian's zero creativity.

All in all, it was a poor display by Chelsea going forward, as they did nothing to breach a rather solid United defence.

#1 Major miscommunication at the back

Another horrible day at the office for Marcos Alonso

The hosts weren't all that bad defensively, but only with regard to a few aspects. They pressed high up the pitch and portrayed some decent energy in the opposition third and in the middle, but at the back, Chelsea appeared clueless and to be honest, reluctant.

Take nothing away from Herrera and Pogba, who planted fabulous headers past Kepa Arrizabalaga. But for the first goal, no midfielder got close to Pogba, as he had all the time in the world to pick out Herrera.

The Spaniard, who was initially being marked by Marcos Alonso, was left free due to miscommunication between David Luiz and the left back.

And, you know what happened next.

For the second goal, Rashford got to the right flank with ease, as though he were in front of practice cones. He delivered a fine cross into the box, but Pogba, with aplomb, got in front of Azpilicueta, whose legs were pinned to the ground. Poor, poor defending!