Alejandro Garnacho was ridiculed by his former Manchester United teammates in the aftermath of Chelsea’s latest damaging Premier League defeat.
Matheus Cunha’s fist-half goal was enough to secure three valuable points for Michael Carrick’s side who are firmly in the drivingseat to secure Champions League qualification.
Chelsea, by contrast, are in the midst of a dismal run with Saturday’s loss their fourth in a row without scoring.
The problems are piling up for Liam Rosenior who is already under immense scrutiny just four months after he was hired to replace the outgoing Enzo Maresca.
While Chelsea appear to be backing their manager, a decision already appears to have been made on their underperforming Argentina international winger.
Garnacho swapped Old Trafford for Stamford Bridge in the summer in a £40million move following an acrimonious departure from the Theatre of Dreams, but Chelsea are said to be open to offers and ready to cut their losses.
The 21-year-old would have been hoping to gain a measure of revenge last night when he was summoned from the bench early on to replace the stricken Estevao.
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In keeping with much of what has gone before this season, however, Garnacho was easily nullified by United’s makeshift defence which was missing four first-choice centre-halves.
Garnacho was booed throughout by United’s away fans and the feeling in the dressing room is not too dissimilar, judging by the social media activity several players indulged in after the game.
Luke Shaw, who was in direct opposition against his former teammate, posted a picture on Instagram which depicted him standing over Garnacho after had fallen to the floor.
Skipper Bruno Fernandes responded to the post with a gif accompanied by a caption which read ‘that’s a violation’ while Alex Telles, who left United last summer, shared two fire emojis and a love heart.
Chelsea, who trail fifth-placed Liverpool by four points having played a game more, have lost four league games in a row without scoring for the first time in 28 years. Not since 1912 have the team endured a longer streak.
In all competitions the run stands at six defeats in their last seven, during which they have conceded 16 times, with seven of their nine goals scored coming against Sky Bet League One Port Vale.
Asked what failure to qualify for the Champions League would mean for his own future, Rosenior said: ‘The honest answer is I don’t know.’
He could at least point to a much-improved display following the capitulation here against Manchester City a week ago, but his team look short of belief that despite creating a wave of chances, they appeared to have given up long before the end.
‘Tonight was a really difficult result to take,’ said Rosenior. ‘They’ve had one shot on our goal when we’re down to 10 men off an injury, and they score.
‘Then we have wave after wave of attack, crosses in the box, moments that we don’t take advantage of.
‘We have to keep working. We have to turn this around.’
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