Morata header spoils Mourinho’s Chelsea return
Alvaro Morata scored his first goal since September as Chelsea deservedly beat Manchester United to move a point behind the Red Devils in the Premier League.
Morata headed in his eighth goal for the club 10 minutes after the break as the Blues recorded a third consecutive league win.
David de Gea kept out further efforts from Morata and Eden Hazard as Chelsea looked to add to their lead.
United forward Marcus Rashford flashed an effort wide in the closing stages before substitute Marouane Fellaini’s close-range strike was saved by Thibaut Courtois.
Chelsea remain fourth while secondplaced United trail leaders Manchester City, who beat Arsenal 3-1 earlier, by eight points.
The antipathy between Chelsea boss Antonio Conte and United counterpart Jose Mourinho has been barely disguised, and the pair exchanged the most cursory of handshakes before kick-off.
And a measure of just how much this win meant to Conte in both a footballing and personal context could be seen in just how fired up he was throughout.
The Italian was lectured by referee Anthony Taylor for his touchline antics, was seen brandishing an imaginary yellow card, and was almost bursting out of his coat in celebration at the final whistle.
After striding on to the pitch to congratulate his players - meaning there was no post-match handshake with Mourinho - he punched the air to all four sides of Stamford Bridge, then pumped his fist against his chest.
Conte’s position at Chelsea has been the subject of much conjecture for most of this season, and he was clearly hurt by the manner of his side’s Champions League defeat by Roma in midweek, but he got an instant response against United and his old adversary Mourinho.
Chelsea’s win will hardly have leaders Manchester City breaking into a cold sweat, but this was a victory Conte desperately needed.
Asked about the lack of a handshake with Mourinho at the end of the game, he told Sky Sports: “It’s not important. It’s important to win the game.
“You have to have the respect on the pitch not outside the pitch.”
Morata and Romelu Lukaku were central figures in a summer of transfer speculation as both Chelsea and United moved to strengthen their attacking resources with marquee signings.
United felt they had pulled off a coup in signing Lukaku from Everton in a £90m deal after supposedly longstanding interest from his former club Chelsea, while Conte insisted he had got the man he wanted all along when he completed a £65m move for Morata.
There was only one winner here as Morata’s movement, desire and matchwinning goal meant he totally outshone the Belgian.
Lukaku has not scored in his past seven games and struggled to make any sort of impact as United slumped to a disappointing defeat.
Morata, in contrast, led Chelsea’s line with pace and energy and made the game’s decisive contribution with a towering header after being given far too much space by the United defence.