Graphic: Blues feeling cross

As José Mourinho settled into his seat in the directors’ box, back in an English stadium for the first time since his abrupt departure from Stamford Bridge, he loomed large over this battle of heavyweights. By the end, with Old Trafford rocking around him, he could not cast so much as a five o’clock shadow over Manchester United’s celebrations. For Chelsea, though, his brooding presence offered an unwelcome reminder of just how they have fallen without him over the past 16 months.

Mourinho was there to cast an eye over United, who gave an ominous warning of the task facing his Inter Milan team in the Champions League’s first knockout round next month, but, as he flew back to Italy last night, he will also have been preoccupied by Chelsea’s continuing troubles under Luiz Felipe Scolari. Whatever his reputation for malevolence, there must have been a part of him that looked upon this performance - devoid of wit, spirit, character and organisation - in much the same way as someone returning to their beloved former home and finding it fallen into disrepair, with weeds overrunning the garden.

If this was a glorious afternoon for United, who have the opportunity to go to the top of the table for the first time this season if they can beat Wigan Athletic on Wednesday and Bolton Wanderers on Saturday, it was truly wretched for Chelsea. As if conceding three goals was not bad enough, two of them - Nemanja Vidic’s header in first-half stoppage time and Dimitar Berbatov’s close-range volley with three minutes remaining, which were interspersed by a deserved goal for Wayne Rooney - were from dead-ball situations. So organised under Mourinho, Chelsea have conceded five goals from set-pieces in their past three games.

<p>Chelsea are in a bad place right now, with only three wins in their past 11 games in all competitions, but their frailties were exposed quite brutally by a team who warmed to the idea of humiliating Scolari’s players as the game wore on. As Chelsea heads began to drop - and, strangely, this seemed to include John Terry, mocked by the home supporters throughout, as well as the more usual suspects, such as Didier Drogba - United twisted the knife. By the time that Howard Webb, the referee, blew the final whistle, some Chelsea players looked relieved that United had stopped at three goals.

United were not even at their best, at least not in an attacking sense.

While Ryan Giggs picked up the champagne for being man of the match, having dominated a congested midfield, their outstanding performers were in the centre of defence, where Vidic and Jonny Evans played superbly to make light of Rio Ferdinand’s absence. The England defender’s persistent back spasms are a concern, so much so that he will be sent to a specialist today, but Evans, after a brief dip in form, was magnificent.

The Northern Ireland defender policed Drogba so effectively, anticipating every ball, that he reduced the Chelsea forward to a carping, gesticulating, limping self-parody. Subduing Drogba is not the task it was two seasons ago, but it is another string to the 21-year-old’s bow.

At the other end of the pitch, Chelsea’s defence could not withstand the pressure that United cranked up in the final minutes of a fiercely contested first half. They should have gone a goal behind in the 45th minute, when Cristiano Ronaldo scored with a header from Giggs’s cross, only for the effort to be disallowed because Rooney’s quick thinking, in taking the sneakiest of short corners before Giggs dribbled the ball infield, was beyond the grasp of Darren Cann, the assistant referee. Rooney was furious, but Chelsea’s reprieve was temporary, with a second corner by Giggs flicked on by Berbatov at the near post and converted by Vidic, who had escaped the attentions of Terry.

The goal changed the atmosphere, adding to the derision heaped on Terry on his first visit to Old Trafford since an expensive miss in the penalty shoot-out in last season’s Champions League final, but it also changed the contest.

Scolari replaced the ineffective Deco with Nicolas Anelka and, in doing so, opened up the game, playing into United’s hands by leaving more space for Giggs, Ronaldo, Rooney and Berbatov to exploit. Scolari admitted as much afterwards, but said that he had little choice. “If I wanted to lose 1-0, I would keep my team with one more in midfield,” he said. “But I needed to change.”

If that is Scolari’s philosophy, there will surely be more changes ahead as he looks to modify a game plan that has looked less convincing as the season has progressed. As confidence has receded, so has the spirit that once coursed through the veins of Chelsea. The second half was a chastening experience for them, with John Obi Mikel suddenly looking a novice in the midfield holding role. Their defence was left exposed and, while United took time to prod at the chinks in their opponents’ armour, there was an air of inevitability.

The second goal, though, was a beauty and one that Rooney merited for a display that was full of bravery and desire, and flecked with genius, as well as the odd moment when he threatened to test Webb’s patience. The one thing that had been missing was a goal, but, as Patrice Evra crossed from the left wing, after a clever backheel from Ronaldo, the England forward drifted into the danger area. The ball was flicked on by Berbatov and Rooney sidefooted in despite the presence of Ashley Cole.

Could things get any worse for Chelsea? Of course they could. After Drogba, for once neglected by Evans, swung at a volley and missed the ball completely, United poured forward in search of a third goal. Ronaldo, having been hacked brutally by Juliano Belletti, struck a venomous free kick from near the left corner flag and Berbatov, who had inexplicably been left in the care of young Franco Di Santo, stuck out a foot to beat Petr Cech at the near post.

Terry looked distraught, Scolari helpless and Mourinho, up in the directors’ box, impassive. All the while, Ferguson was beaming as United issued the most ominous statement of intent in the title race. For a team who had been accused by Rafael BenÍtez, the Liverpool manager, of being nervous, this was quite a response by United, as Mourinho, who knows a thing or two about winning championships, would no doubt concur.

Man United (4-4-2): E van der Sar 6 G Neville 7 N Vidic 8 J Evans 8 P Evra 7 C Ronaldo 7 D Fletcher 7 R Giggs 7 Park Ji Sung 7 W Rooney 8 D Berbatov 6 Substitutes: J O’Shea 5 (for Evra, 66min), M Carrick (for Giggs, 80). Not used: T Kuszczak, P Scholes, Anderson, C Tévez, D Welbeck. Next: Wigan (h).

Chelsea (4-1-4-1): P Cech 5 J Bosingwa 6 R Carvalho 5 J Terry 5 A Cole 6 J O Mikel 4 J Cole 4 M Ballack 4 F Lampard 6 Deco 5 D Drogba 4 Substitutes: N Anelka 4 (for Deco, 46), J Belletti 4 (for Bosingwa, 63), F Di Santo (for J Cole, 85). Not used: C Cudicini, B Ivanovic, P Ferreira, S Kalou. Next: Stoke (h).

Referee H Webb Attendance 75,455