Marcus Rashford's early strike and a deflected Ander Herrera effort were the difference between the teams on Sunday, as the gap between Antonio Conte's men and Tottenham in second place remains at four points with six games to play.
The Red Devils are four points behind fourth-placed Manchester City, with a trip to the Etihad Stadium on the horizon on April 27. "I think we played really well, a very solid performance", said Mourinho.
"Everyone was together, we grafted and put the work in to get the result", Rashford told Sky Sports. "The kid played very well and again it was a great experience for him", he said.
And, unsurprisingly, Chelsea's defeat at United on Sunday went down well with several Spurs supporters on Twitter, with many looking forward to their potentially season-defining FA Cup semi-final meeting between the two at Wembley next weekend...
"We knew that playing this way would be very hard for them".
Tottenham will also take heart from their dismantling of Antonio Conte's side in January when they ended Chelsea's 13-match unbeaten run with an impressive 2-0 victory.
Gary Neville says Chelsea's players didn't turn up against Manchester United - but neither did their manager. "We controlled the game and created more chances than them".
"It's [my fault], because in this case I wasn't able to spur the right desire or motivation to play this kind of game".
Chelsea have a favourable run-in but Conte is wary having dropped points in recent weeks, including a costly slip-up at home to Crystal Palace at the beginning of April.
"For us it is a fantastic target. Be patient and have great will to fight. otherwise we must clap another team", he added. "We must find the same". "We must have the same".
San Antonio Game Two
The Spurs were able to sit all their starters but Dedmon in the fourth quarter as their lead ballooned to as many as 36 points. After a surprisingly porous first quarter, the Spurs ratcheted up the pressure every quarter until Memphis looked hopeless.
Rashford opened the scoring in the seventh minute when he ran onto Herrera's pass behind David Luiz and sent a shot bobbling past goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.
Herrera, who denied deliberately handling the ball prior to setting up Rashford's opener, said United's display had been "almost perfect".
It was a goal rooted in controversy from Chelsea's point of view as United midfielder Herrera appeared to handle to win back possession.
"I was running with my arms next to my body".
"In football, I think if you do not have the intention to touch the ball and you have your arms in a natural position it is not a handball". Herrera and Matteo Darmian did brilliant stifling jobs in man-marking Hazard and Pedro Rodriguez, respectively.
Herrera said of the team's performance: "It was nearly flawless".
"You always have some things to improve but defensively it was ideal. We can be very happy".
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was, according to Mourinho, rested after feeling "very tired" following the Anderlecht game; whether the absence of United's s 28-goal top scorer was tactical or purely down to exhausted legs, it worked in his team's favour.
"It's not so much stepping up to the plate, because we're a team and just missing one player doesn't cancel out everything that we've worked on in the week".
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