Chelsea are back to winning ways with a comfortable 2-0 Premier League victory over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon.

After facing questions about Estevao Willian’s limited involvement this season, Xabi Alonso decided to finally give the winger his first Premier League start since April.

The Brazil international started on the right flank, while Pedro Neto got the nod to lead the line for Chelsea ahead of natural striker options Danny Welbeck and Emmanuel Emegha.

Romeo Lavia also kept his spot in central midfield alongside Moises Caicedo, with Jordan Henderson surprisingly absent due to illness.

Chelsea started stronger at Stamford Bridge, but as the game went on, Manchester United found their rhythm, and the first half was quite even.

Each side found the back of the net, but Estevao’s 15th-minute tap-in and Matheus Cunha’s 34th-minute flick header were ruled out for offside, and the game remained goalless at the break.

That said, the visitors were arguably the better side in the first half, having created three big chances compared to Chelsea’s one. 

Chelsea, however, started strong again in the second half, and this time, they broke the deadlock.

Lavia showed brilliant ball-winning skills in midfield to dispossess Bryan Mbeumo. He only needed to make a simple pass to Morgan Rogers, who drove with the ball and glided past two Manchester United defenders before dinking the ball over Senne Lammens and giving the hosts the lead.

It got even better for Chelsea after Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez struck Wesley Fofana with his elbow during a corner-kick situation in the 63rd minute. VAR intervened, and after an on-pitch review, referee Peter Bankes showed the Argentina international a second yellow card and awarded Chelsea a penalty.

Cole Palmer, of course, converted it to a two-goal lead for the hosts, who had a man advantage in the last 30 minutes.

Estevao was very close to tripling Chelsea’s lead in the 71st minute, but his brilliant strike was unfortunately marginally offside when he received Palmer’s pass; his second disallowed goal of the match.

Here are five takeaways from Chelsea’s 2-0 Premier League win over Manchester United:

Chelsea ended the three-big-game week with a win following back-to-back defeats to Tottenham Hotspur in the league and Liverpool in the Carabao Cup.

Martinez’s dismissal certainly made it a lot easier, but Chelsea still responded well after the break and thoroughly deserved the win.

The 19-year-old was unlucky not to be on the scoresheet, but he was arguably still Chelsea’s brightest spark throughout the game.

Close to half of Chelsea’s attacks came from his side of the pitch, and he looked to be enjoying his first Premier League start of the season.

A front-two of Palmer and Rogers against Spurs, alternative lone strikers Welbeck and Emegha against Liverpool, and Neto as a false nine in this game, Alonso has tried different options to fill the void left by the first-choice striker’s injury.

Having Neto lead the line certainly allowed Rogers and Palmer to be more involved in the build-up plays, which proved decisive. 

However, despite the Portugal international’s tireless runs, he does not offer much presence in the box compared to natural strikers. It is still incredible how his versatility has proved crucial to Chelsea this season.

Maxence Lacroix’s hamstring injury is undoubtedly a big blow to the team, but credit where credit is due, Levi Colwill and Fofana’s centre-back pairing earned Chelsea their only second Premier League clean sheet since the start of the season.

Mike Penders also made a few important saves to achieve this, including his fingertip stop that prevented Mbeumo from pulling one back for the visitors late in the game.

If there was a weak link to Chelsea’s defence in this game, it would be Palestra at left-back.

It is worth noting that he naturally plays on the right, and being right-footed, he had to deal with uncomfortable situations. He is also a more attacking full-back than a defensive one, so Manchester United might have targeted him, mostly through Amad Diallo.

This was also Palestra’s first start for Chelsea after struggling with a hamstring injury earlier this season. It will take him some time to get back to the exceptional player he was during pre-season.