Morgan Rogers Praises Chelsea After Manchester United Win: "We Imposed Our Authority"

In-form Chelsea star Morgan Rogers stressed the importance of a convincing win over Manchester United after a tough week and praised his teammates' authoritative display.

Chelsea beat Manchester United, one of the Premier League's traditional giants, 2-0 on Saturday thanks to goals from Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer. Manchester United, now without a win in nine games in all competitions, had Lisandro Martínez sent off, while Chelsea, who saw two Estêvão goals ruled out, failed to take their chances to extend the lead further.

After a 2-0 home defeat to Tottenham in last weekend's London derby, followed by a League Cup exit on penalties against Liverpool on Wednesday, Rogers said he felt Xabi Alonso's side were in real need of this reaction.

Speaking after the match, Rogers said: "This win is a huge step for us. We had a really tough week after the bad result last weekend. We knew we had to come here and respond strongly. In the second half we took complete control of the game and imposed our authority, which was brilliant. We fully deserved the win."

With his opening goal, Rogers became the second Premier League player after Erling Haaland to reach double figures for goal contributions (6 goals, 4 assists) in all competitions this season.

The star, who said he has been extremely pleased with how things have gone since his record-fee move from Aston Villa, added: "I'm really enjoying being here. It was a brand-new challenge for me and I was looking forward to playing with these fantastic, quality players. What matters is being able to act as one unit. I'm just trying to lead and focus on what I do best. It's been a good start, but I have to keep it going."

With an average age of 23 years and 89 days, Chelsea fielded their second-youngest starting XI in a Premier League match. The 19-year-old Estêvão, making his first league start of the season, was one of the standout players on the pitch. The young talent led all players with 6 shots, 3 shots on target, 12 touches in the opposition box and 5 attempted dribbles, while his 3 chances created put him level at the top with Rogers, Palmer and Bruno Fernandes.

Head coach Xabi Alonso also admitted that Estêvão's performance was making his selection decisions harder: "He played a really great game and I'm very happy for him. He deserved this moment and this opportunity. He was a constant threat and came very close to scoring. It shows me that he wants more time on the pitch. In football you sometimes can't get everything you want straight away, but the right way to show it is not by getting angry, it's by staying competitive."

Chelsea's next Premier League game is away at Sunderland. Manchester United, meanwhile, host Roma in the Champions League on Tuesday.