Delays (lag) & the effect of managing

Hello all,

I have noticed a few things lately while playing:
I checked my opponent a couple of minutes before a CL match and saw he played 3 matches so far (cup, cup and league). While our match played, it was 1-1 with about 10 minutes to go. I checked my opponent again for some reason and noticed he now had 4 matches played and the last match was lost. In my own team's overview there were still 3 matches.
And lo-and-behold, a few game-minutes later my team scored 2-1 and 3-1. After the match I refreshed the game and he still had 4 matches played, so its not like there was another match involved.

This suggests to me that perhaps due to connection differences the match was already actually finished on the server, though for me there were still 10 minutes to go. This makes me wonder how much difference managing actually makes, especially at the end of the match. Is this why it takes so long for changes to occur, such as substitutes and tactical changes?

Just wondering how others feel about this.