Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United side put in a top performance to defeat Chelsea and cut their lead at the top of the Premier League to only four points and the title race is wide open again.
United manager Jose Mourinho has suffered this season against the club where he was a three-time champion, losing 4-0 in the league at Chelsea and also going out of the FA Cup quarter-final at Stamford Bridge.
The Portuguese was not to be denied this time as Marcus Rashford, paired with Jesse Lingard up front while a jaded Zlatan Ibrahimovic was rested, finished coolly after seven minutes and Ander Herrera – detailed to do a brilliant man-marking job on Eden Hazard – saw his shot deflected in off Kurt Zouma four minutes after the break.
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Zouma was a late replacement for Marcos Alonso, who pulled out in the warm-up, but Chelsea can offer no excuses here as they were second best throughout. Tottenham now trail them by four points with six games to go and have the superior goal difference.
Mourinho’s starting line-up raised eyebrows, with Ibrahimovic on the bench and Anthony Martial nowhere to be seen – but the end result, and the manner of United’s victory, demonstrated just how brilliantly he had set up his team.
With Ibrahimovic out, the pace and movement of Rashford and Lingard offered the sort of threat that troubled Chelsea instantly. Rashford had missed one good chance before coolly directing a finish past Begovic early on.
The real masterstroke, however, was his decision to deploy Herrera as Hazard’s shadow throughout. The Belgian, who Conte felt was a deliberate target for physical punishment in the recent FA Cup quarter-final, was totally snuffed out by Herrera, who covered his every move and forced him to the margins on a miserable afternoon for Chelsea.
And, to make Mourinho’s day complete, it was Herrera who escaped Hazard’s attentions to find space in the area and send that deflected shot high into the net at the Stretford End for the home side’s crucial second goal.
EPL Results:
Sunday 16th April
Saturday 15th April
EPL Table
| Position | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Chelsea | 32 | 24 | 3 | 5 | 65 | 27 | +38 | 75 |
| 2 | Tottenham | 32 | 21 | 8 | 3 | 68 | 22 | +46 | 71 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 33 | 19 | 9 | 5 | 69 | 40 | +29 | 66 |
| 4 | Manchester City | 32 | 19 | 7 | 6 | 63 | 35 | +28 | 64 |
| 5 | Manchester United | 31 | 16 | 12 | 3 | 48 | 24 | +24 | 60 |
| 6 | Everton | 33 | 16 | 9 | 8 | 60 | 37 | +23 | 57 |
| 7 | Arsenal | 30 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 61 | 39 | +22 | 54 |
| 8 | West Bromwich Albion | 33 | 12 | 8 | 13 | 39 | 42 | -3 | 44 |
| 9 | Southampton | 31 | 11 | 7 | 13 | 37 | 40 | -3 | 40 |
| 10 | Watford | 32 | 11 | 7 | 14 | 37 | 52 | -15 | 40 |
| 11 | Stoke | 33 | 10 | 9 | 14 | 37 | 48 | -11 | 39 |
| 12 | Leicester | 32 | 10 | 7 | 15 | 41 | 53 | -12 | 37 |
| 13 | West Ham | 33 | 10 | 7 | 16 | 44 | 59 | -15 | 37 |
| 14 | Burnley | 33 | 10 | 6 | 17 | 33 | 47 | -14 | 36 |
| 15 | Crystal Palace | 32 | 10 | 5 | 17 | 44 | 52 | -8 | 35 |
| 16 | Bournemouth | 33 | 9 | 8 | 16 | 45 | 63 | -18 | 35 |
| 17 | Hull | 33 | 8 | 6 | 19 | 34 | 67 | -33 | 30 |
| 18 | Swansea | 33 | 8 | 4 | 21 | 37 | 68 | -31 | 28 |
| 19 | Middlesbrough | 31 | 4 | 12 | 15 | 22 | 37 | -15 | 24 |
| 20 | Sunderland | 32 | 5 | 6 | 21 | 26 | 58 | -32 | 21 |
