This is the kind of result to stifle talk of crisis at Chelsea. The Premier League’s summit may remain distant but the joyous din which erupted inside the ground at the final whistle was an outpouring of relief. Antonio Conte celebrated manically, fists raised in triumph towards those in the upper tier of the East stand, before striding out on to the pitch to acknowledge each side of the ground in turn. José Mourinho waited near the tunnel to shake his counterpart’s hand but eventually gave up. He looked distinctly unimpressed to be enduring Conte’s moment.

It may seem vaguely ludicrous that a head coach who has now overseen 37 wins from his 49 Premier League games in charge could be considered under pressure but Conte had needed this victory. That humiliation in Rome in midweek had left him embattled, with suggestions the hierarchy had not taken kindly to the realism with which he has approached a cluttered campaign, and the first murmurings of discontent within the playing squad surfacing with every setback.

Yet against imposing opponents in Manchester United, and not for the first time since he arrived in England, his major decisions paid off: his side played with the same system, style and swagger as at Atlético Madrid in September; N’Golo Kanté’s reintegration in midfield was key to a second clean sheet in nine games; Andreas Christensen, preferred to David Luiz in the middle of the back three, was mightily impressive.

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The Brazilian had worn heavy strapping on his right leg at the Stadio Olimpico but had been omitted here for “tactical reasons”, according to Conte, with the implication it was down to shoddy form. The Italian had pointed pre-match to Christensen’s early-season displays and to the fact “the club likes to bring in a young player” when it came to Ethan Ampadu, a 17-year-old without any experience of top-flight football, being preferred on the bench over David Luiz.

After the match Conte suggested David Luiz would have “to work really hard, or [risk to] be on the bench or in the stand”. As it was, the defender sat behind the dugouts next to his compatriot Kenedy, whose yawn in Thursday’s debrief had been noted, and watched his team-mates put in their most convincing display for more than a month. It will be intriguing to see how such a charismatic figure now forces his way back into the fold. Certainly his team-mates have demonstrated they can do without him.

It was tempting to wonder whether Mourinho’s presence in the dugout had merely coaxed the best from Chelsea, as it once did so often when he was on the payroll. His current team never showed any real control on this occasion, their few chances squeezed out on the break – they mustered only two on target all afternoon – until a late rally which threatened to earn them an equaliser they would not have merited. Their own gap from Manchester City is now eight points, which “is not the same as eight points in the Portuguese league, La Liga, the Bundesliga”‚ according to the manager.

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The disappointment was in their inability to wound their hosts, with Marouane Fellaini’s late volley, turned away smartly by Thibaut Courtois, the closest they came to reward. Marcus Rashford’s was a pesky presence but there was no real rhythm to their approach and, without their injured absentees, they were forced too often into retreat. Romelu Lukaku, one spin and shot from distance aside, was isolated and contained. Teams far less imposing than United have created considerably more against these opponents this term, and that ended up feeling rather damning.

Admittedly Kanté’s energetic presence was significant and inevitably bolstered Chelsea’s collective. The champions had kept only one clean sheet during his six-game absence, with a hamstring injury sustained on international duty with France. Yet it was the home side’s attacking play which truly caught the eye. Their goal had been forged in familiar fashion, César Azpilicueta flinging over one of those trademark diagonal crosses from which Diego Costa and Álvaro Morata have benefited in recent times. The Spaniard met it emphatically, having trundled unnoticed into the space between United’s centre-halves with Chris Smalling drawn towards Tiémoué Bakayoko’s run, to plant his header beyond a static David de Gea and leave Mourinho cursing another miserable homecoming.

But Chelsea should have had more to show for their dominance. The excellent Eden Hazard, whose ankles had been kicked raw by the end, was denied regularly by De Gea, Cesc Fàbregas nodded into the side-netting from close range, Bakayoko missed two glorious opportunities and the referee, Anthony Taylor, penalised Morata for a push on Phil Jones early on after the defender had inadvertently conjured a volley as he crumpled clumsily which arrowed the ball into the top corner.

Each miss had left Conte agonised on the touchline, his impatience drawing warnings from the fourth official, Craig Pawson, for encroachment as Mourinho watched on, presumably wondering if he would be treated quite so leniently. But this was the Italian’s day. “We can win or lose but our spirit must be this,” said Conte. “We started this season with a lot of problems. We were up and down. But this game showed that, if we want it, we can do it.”