Bruno Fernandes cries after Manchester United's defeat

A disastrous start for Manchester United

Bruno Fernandes fought back tears at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Manchester United's Portugal captain cut an emotional figure after a two-goal defeat to Chelsea in the ninth round of the Premier League stretched a miserable run to nine matches without a win in all competitions.

The emotion spilled over as Fernandes went to salute the travelling United supporters in the away end at the final whistle. Another loss had deepened the crisis and thrown the future of manager Michael Carrick into doubt.

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 after Lisandro Martinez fouled his man.

Just six days earlier, United had slipped to a 3-0 defeat at Bournemouth. The decline rolls on, with only seven points from their opening nine Premier League matches.

Fernandes had watched the Bournemouth game from the bench, dropped after criticising his manager's tactical choices in the wake of the heavy 4-1 loss to Como in the Champions League. He returned to the starting line-up against Chelsea and played the full 90.

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

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

On his own future, the manager would say only that his focus is on preparing the players for Tuesday's Champions League clash with Roma, insisting they must get back to winning ways.

Aston Villa come next Sunday at home after the Roma trip. Carrick clung to the positives, pointing to the quality of the first-half display and urging his players to build on it.