Bruno Fernandes breaks down after Manchester United's collapse

A catastrophic start for the Red Devils

Bruno Fernandes looked on the verge of tears. The Manchester United captain cut a broken figure after Saturday's 2-0 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, a ninth-round Premier League loss that stretched his side's winless run to nine matches across all competitions.

Unable to contain his emotions, Fernandes went to applaud the travelling support in the away end after the final whistle. The latest defeat deepened United's crisis and left the future of manager Michael Carrick hanging in the balance.

Chelsea went in level at the break. Morgan Rogers then broke through the United defence to open the scoring in the 50th minute, before Cole Palmer doubled the lead in the 64th from the penalty spot, the foul committed by Lisandro Martínez.

Six days earlier, United had crashed 3-0 to Bournemouth. The decline rolls on, with just seven points gathered from their opening nine Premier League matches.

Fernandes had started the Bournemouth game on the bench after criticising his manager's tactical choices in the wake of the heavy 4-1 loss to Como in the Champions League. Against Chelsea he returned to the starting line-up and played the full 90.

Carrick tried to play down talk of what lies behind the crisis afterwards. "I won't give you a long speech to explain the situation today, because it won't change anything," he said. "We have to move forward and win football matches, it's as simple as that."

His side could have scored one or two goals in the first half, maybe three, the manager added, but lost their focus after the break and let Chelsea take control. He stressed the need to learn how to handle difficult moments in games.

Asked about his own future, Carrick would only say his focus is on preparing the players for Tuesday's Champions League clash with Roma, insisting United must get back to winning ways.

Aston Villa visit Old Trafford next Sunday after the Roma trip. Carrick clung to the positives, pointing to the quality of his side's first-half display and urging the players to build on what they produced.