Morning:
8°c
Chelsea have been giving the impression this season that they can win the Premier League with flair as well as traditional hard work. With goals being fired in aplenty under new coach Carlo Ancelotti, it seemed the club were going to entertain their way to the trophy.
However, this victory, which puts them five points clear of Arsenal at the top of the table, was straight out of the more conservative Jose Mourinho textbook.
Mourinho's first championship campaign began with an unconvincing 1-0 home win over Manchester United in 2004 and it gave the players the confidence they could compete with the best. Now after a similarly laboured effort, Chelsea have the belief that they can regain the trophy which has been at Old Trafford for the last three years.
Among neutrals, there was sympathy for Sir Alex Ferguson's men as they had played the majority of the inventive football, created more chances and had some refereeing decisions go against them.
However, there was also an argument they got what they deserved for being so defensive in the first place. A knee injury to Dimitar Berbatov may have robbed Ferguson of a key striker but the manager still left Michael Owen on the bench until just five minutes were remaining.
While Ferguson's ploy of using Michael Carrick, Anderson and Darren Fletcher in midfield meant Chelsea's diamond system failed to function, it also left Wayne Rooney isolated for long periods.
There was the impression United would have caused Chelsea so many more problems if the England striker had been given a partner to play alongside him. Once United went behind they lacked the personnel to turn the game around with just 14 minutes to go.
Ferguson's moaning about match official Martin Atkinson's performance was predictable as well as inevitable, yet it also diverted attention away from the mistakes he made. Chelsea's five-point lead is not insurmountable for United or Arsenal, however if Ancelotti's side can win playing ugly as well as with style they will be hard to catch.
Arsenal are yet to prove they can do that this term, while United clearly have problems of their own in that department having also lost at Burnley and Liverpool.
Chelsea are already setting landmarks. It was a club-record equalling 11th straight home win and they have gone over 14 hours without conceding a goal at Stamford Bridge.
United will still wonder how they didn't find a way past goalkeeper Petr Cech and one source of consternation will, once again, be the match officials.
Rooney was wrongly flagged offside after being put clean through by Anderson in the eighth minute and then Atkinson refused to award a penalty after Antonio Valencia was brought down by John Terry in the area.
With Drogba well marshalled by Wes Brown and Jonny Evans, Nicolas Anelka was responsible for Chelsea's brightest moments and he forced a good save from Edwin van der Sar 13 minutes before the break.
United grew in confidence after half-time and Rooney sent one shot just wide before seeing another tipped wide by Cech a minute later. For their part, the only way it looked that Chelsea were going to score was through a set piece - and so it proved.
Atkinson judged that Fletcher had fouled Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard's cross was headed in by a combination of Terry and Anelka. Although the goal was credited to the England captain, Anelka appeared to get the final touch as Chelsea kept up their run of scoring in every game this season.
The away side's sense of injustice was increased amid claims Didier Drogba had fouled Brown in the area and was standing in an offside position when the ball flew just past him. But United can also count themselves lucky that they ended the game with 11 men, for they were guilty of losing their discipline.
Jonny Evans was particularly fortunate. He could have seen a straight red for an ugly challenge on Drogba which ended with his studs thudding into the striker's chest. Bizarrely, he escaped any punishment while the Ivory Coast striker was shown a yellow card. It deserved at least a booking, which is what Evans got a few minutes later after deliberately tripping Ricardo Carvalho.
He was not the only one in red to lose his cool and it just betrayed United's concern over Chelsea, not just in losing to them in this game but maybe the title race too.
