Pedro didn’t need long to announce Chelsea’s statement win that would come at Manchester United’s expense.
The 29-year-old Chelsea forward scored the fastest goal of the Premier League season Sunday, striking just 30 seconds after the highly anticipated game kicked off. Pedro ran onto Marcos Alonso’s pass and shot into the goal Manchester United’s David de Gea had vacated.
30 seconds. That's how long it took Chelsea to score v. Manchester United. #PLonNBC https://t.co/OCRl92K2IA
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) October 23, 2016
📸 Pedro's goal is the fastest in the #PL this season at 30 seconds #CHEMUN pic.twitter.com/HjAa5nZ3Gn
— Premier League (@premierleague) October 23, 2016
The goal was Pedro’s first of the season after he fired blanks in his first nine games in all competitions.
Pedro’s goal thwarted the best-laid plans of Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, who was returning to Stamford Bridge for the first time since Chelsea fired him in December 2015.
Gary Cahill doubled Chelsea’s lead 20 minutes after Pedro’s strike, and Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante confirmed the rout by scoring second-half goals.
The loss was Mourinho’s worst in his storied career as a Premier League manager.
4-0 – This is Mourinho’s heaviest PL defeat. Only against Barcelona in 2010 did he lose by a greater margin in all comps (5-0). Blue. pic.twitter.com/wjuhuPjIFH
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 23, 2016
The astounding result moved Chelsea up to fourth place in the Premier League standings after nine games. Manchester United disappointingly occupies seventh place after nine games.
14 – Only in 2014/15 (13) have Man Utd collected fewer points after their first 9 PL games of a season than this campaign(14). Woe.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 23, 2016
Thumbnail photo via YouTube/NBC Sports
