It was described as a ‘master class’, a sign that however desultory Manchester United’s Premier League season has been, Jose Mourinho can still orchestrate a performance that shows why he is one of the managerial greats.

The question that hung in the rain-sodden Easter skies of Old Trafford was whether the 2-0 victory had come too late to propel Manchester United into the automatic Champions League positions and too late to deny Chelsea the title that has seemed theirs for the last four months.

In the away dressing room the mood was one of anger and bewilderment.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings David de Gea - 6 out of 10 Rarely tested. Impressive under the high balls and in his distribution. Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings Antonio Valencia - 7 Solid all round performance from him. Strong going forward and assured on the back foot. Physically impressive too. Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings Eric Bailly - 7 COmposed under pressure, read the game brilliantly and made all the right decisions. Excellent defensive display. Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings Marcos Rojo - 6 A gritty and fiesty display. Battled hard against Costa and largely kept his cool while the Spaniard repeatedly lost his. Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings Matteo Darmian - 6 Kept Pedro under wraps and limited the wingers' influence for much of the game. Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings Ander Herrera - 8 Demonstrated fantastic vision to play in Rashford for United's goal. Hard-working as ever. Shame about the yellow card but completely ran the game today. Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings Marouane Fellaini - 7 United's battering ram. Strong in the air, firm in his challenges and excellent at breaking up play. Dominated against Kante too. Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings Paul Pogba - 7 A rounded, mature performance from the Frenchman. May not have threatened as others did but kept the United midfield ticking over with his constant passing and movement. Still missing that 'wow' factor though. Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings Ashley Young - 7 Another hard worker who dug deep to give 100 per cent today. Made some encouraging runs going forward and was vital in the build-up to United's second. Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings Marcus Rashford - 8 FUll of confidence and energy. Used his pace to devasting effect and proved to be too much for the visiting defence at times. Showed today what he's truly capable of. Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings Jesse Lingard - 7 Complimented Rashford to a tee. Excelled at getting in behind United's backline and provided a reliable outlet throughout. Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings Asmir Begović - 6 Could have maybe done more for the first goal but unlucky about the second. Made some important saves to keep the score down. Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings Kurt Zouma - 5 Stepped in to replace Marcos Alonso which subsequently disrupted the balance to Antonio Conte's team. Looked out of place. Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings David Luiz - 5 Guilty of costly mistakes and, rather surprisingly, was overpowered at times by Rashford. A shadow of the player he has been this season. Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings Gary Cahill - 4 Completely dropped his guard for United's second. Struggled to match Rashford for his pace and made multiple sloppy mistakes. An afternoon to forget for him. Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings Victor Moses - 4 Anonymous and largely ineffective. Hauled off around the hour mark for Cesc Fabregas. Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings N'Golo Kanté - 6 Showcased his ability to drive into space on a number of occasions but was overwhelmed physically throughout the match by Fellaini. Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings Nemanja Matic - 5 Struggled defensively and seemed out of his depth. Couldn't deal with the United set-up. Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings Cesar Azpilicueta - 6 Pushed forward down the flank and provided his team-mates with a reliable source of deliveries. Defensively, he enjoyed a better display than the rest of the Chelsea back line. Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings Pedro - 5 Enjoyed a few half-chances but was subdued and lacked any real dynamism. Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings Eden Hazard - 6 Missed that magic touch today. Was played out of the game by Herrera. Occasionally threatened with his quick feet but it wasn't to be. Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings Diego Costa - 5 Bullish but another disappointing performance. His quality on the ball and in front of goal deteriorated as his composure faded throughout the game.

Antonio Conte’s statement that he had been at fault for being unable to motivate his side seemed false, an attempt to shift the pressure from his players. As Graeme Souness remarked from the Sky Television studio, if Conte could not motivate his footballers to play at Old Trafford in front of 75,000, there was not much hope for them.

The other post-match interview, given by Chelsea’s captain, Gary Cahill, appeared much more grounded. Cahill sounded dumbfounded that Chelsea had been so effectively stifled. “We didn’t click,” he said. “In the second half we tried to create but we were below the standards we have set. We weren’t at the races and it makes us a bit angry.”

There were three elements to the instructions Mourinho gave his players. The first was that Chelsea, who began the game four points clear of Tottenham Hotspur, would be nervous. If they conceded an early goal, they might crack completely. Marcus Rashford broke through after seven minutes and thereafter Chelsea looked confused and sometimes desperate.

Conte got his tactics wrong against United (Getty)

It is 21 Aprils since Sky Sports’ most famous interview, when Kevin Keegan, clutching a microphone and shouting too loudly because the headphones meant he could not hear himself speak, proclaimed how he would ‘love it, love it’ if Newcastle beat Manchester United to the title but there was a faint echo of that race at Old Trafford.

What unnerved Newcastle in 1996 was that generally they had to play their games after Manchester United and United, who had been 12 points adrift in January, kept winning.

Tottenham, 13 points behind at one stage, have won their last seven matches, scoring 22 goals. As soon as Tottenham demolished Bournemouth 4-0 on Saturday lunchtime, Chelsea could feel their breath on their neck.

Tottenham have closed the gap at the top to a mere four points (Getty)

Ashley Young, the latest to be given the captain’s armband by Mourinho, suggested the key to victory had been neutralising Eden Hazard, something Manchester United had attempted to do by repeated fouling during their FA Cup quarter-final defeat at Stamford Bridge last month. Here Ander Herrera employed methods that were more legal and more sophisticated.

“We worked on that during the week,” said Young. “We didn’t have much time to do it but we worked on it throughout Saturday. We were told we all had our jobs to do to fight off the threat of Chelsea and every man did it to a tee.

“Antonio Valencia and Matteo Darmian in particular had tough opponents against them – Hazard and Pedro Rodriguez – but they kept them quiet. The two back lads kept Diego Costa quiet.”

Herrera marked Hazard out of the game (Getty)

Costa, without Hazard’s support, appeared like a blind bull and whenever Marcos Rojo tangled with the Brazilian-born forward, which was often, the Stretford End broke into chants of “Argentina”.

Mourinho’s final instruction had been to keep Chelsea’s back three penned deep into their own half. There was a moment early on when Cahill, on his own 18-yard line, tried to bring the ball out, saw he had no options, passed square to Cesar Azpilicueta, who almost lost possession. Moments later, Rashford scored.

“We couldn’t let their defenders bring the ball out and play,” said Rashford’s strike partner, Jesse Lingard. “We knew that, if we did that, then the players behind us, the midfield and defence, would do their job of marking the players behind us.”

Afterwards, Cahill did what captains are supposed to do and rallied a very well beaten team. “There are only six games left and we are still in a good position,” he said. “We need to realise it’s not over and we have to dig in. No-one is going to give us this league.”