Manchester United's head coach Michael Carrick, centre left, reacts during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Manchester United in London, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)Manchester United got their captain Bruno Fernandes back onto the pitch after he reconciled with manager Michael Carrick but the club’s woes continued as they were handed a 2-0 defeat by Chelsea in the Premier League. The Red Devils are provisionally 16th in the Premier League standings after the loss. However, Manchester United have seven points after having played one more game compared to Crystal Palace (17th in the standings with seven points), Nottingham Forest (18th with six points), Coventry City (19th with six points) and Sunderland (20th with five points).All those four clubs have a game in hand over United at the moment, which the quartet plays later on Saturday.The defeat to Chelsea means that Manchester United have just one win in the league after nine games and are one point above the relegation zone. There’s a chance the 20-time English champions could be in the bottom three by the end of the round, a desperate situation for a club widely regarded as the biggest in the country.Manchester United’s only two victories from 13 matches in all competitions this season were against promoted Ipswich in the Premier League and tournament newcomer Sabah in the Champions League.The defeat leaves Carrick’s future at the helm of Manchester United in jeopardy. The game against Chelsea saw Lisandro Martinez getting red carded, thus leaving United playing with 10 men. Second-half goals by Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer handed Chelsea the victory. Reports have suggested that Carrick’s future at the club is being determined on a “match-by-match basis”. Manchester United are now on a nine-match winless run in all competitions — its longest streak without a victory since 1988, according to the BBC.Manchester United boss Carrick mended fences with his captain Bruno Fernandes, and restore the Portuguese star to the starting lineup for the game at Stamford Bridge after dropping his captain last week.On Saturday, Fernandes played the full game at Stamford Bridge and was handed back the captain’s armband. Fernandes was the player of the year in the English football league last season. But he was dropped to the bench for the 3-0 home loss to Bournemouth on Sunday, days after critical comments about how Carrick set up the team in a 4-1 loss to Como in the Champions League.Story continues below this adFernandes had never made it onto the field despite being sent out to warm up and Carrick making four second-half substitutions.“He cares deeply about this football club and the team and he’s desperate to do well,” Carrick said about Fernandes on Thursday, “so we will lead that together.”But Fernandes’ presence on the pitch didn’t make too much difference for Manchester United.Palmer converted a 64th-minute penalty awarded after Martinez jumped with a raised elbow toward Wesley Fofana at a corner and struck the Chelsea defender in the face. A video review confirmed the offense and the Argentina defender, already in the spotlight for criticizing United’s hierarchy in a recent post-match interview, was given a second yellow card in a four-minute span. Reports suggested that when Martinez walked off the field after his red card, Carrick didn’t even acknowledge the player.Story continues below this adUnited’s next match is at home to Roma in the Champions League on Tuesday and there has to be some doubt whether Carrick will still be in charge.