Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez has issued an online apology after his early red card just five minutes in against Manchester United on Saturday evening.
The Spaniard clumsily clattered into the on-rushing Bryan Mbeumo in the opening moments of the blockbuster clash, giving referee Peter Bankes no choice but to produce the red card.
It forced Enzo Maresca into three early substitutions at Old Trafford, with Estevao, Pedro Neto and Cole Palmer all seeing their numbers on the electronic board.
Chelsea's defence struggled to adapt to their numerical disadvantage and the new players on the pitch, with their back line in disarray for both os United's goals that came before the break.
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The red card undoubtedly had catastrophic consequences for Chelsea, who were immediately put on the back foot against a United side who were up for the fight.
And Sanchez has now taken to his Instagram story to publicly apologise for his blunder.
"On me today guys, big sorry for that, team put a massive effort on the second half but couldn't get there," he wrote.
Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez has issued an online apology after his early red card just five minutes in against Manchester United on Saturday evening
|REUTERS
Despite an improved second-half performance and a headed goal from Trevoh Chalobah, Chelsea had left themselves too much to do, and a comeback could not be completed.
Chelsea boss Maresca told BBC Sport after the game that it was Sanchez's red card that caused the biggest problem for his side.
"The red card changed the game after three minutes.
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Robert Sanchez apologised on his Instagram story for his mistake
|"The game probably changed after they conceded the red card, also with [the red card for] Casemiro. We were much better.
"After the red card for them, 10 v 10, it changed the game for us. We needed to start in a better way."
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Sanchez was not the only player to receive his marching orders, with Manchester United midfielder Casemiro, who also scored on the day, receiving a second yellow for his challenge on Andrey Santos.
The red card, which cancelled out United's numerical advantage, allowed Chelsea to push United more, and came close to equalising the score.
United boss Ruben Amorim said after the game that his midfielder was suffering from his dismissal, and was surprised his experience did not help him avoid making the challenge.
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"He's [feeling] worse than me," Amorim told BBC Sport. "We won, so I will forget a little bit and he will suffer because he's a top professional.
"He understands what he did. He is experienced enough that that play should not be played like that. He cares too much."
"We started the game in the right way. Really aggressive. The red card helped us dominate the game, but we were already there.
"We scored two goals and then we tried to complicate our game again. It's always complicated with us. It should have been different this game.
"We suffered in the end, but we deserved the win."